May 17Birthdays & History

On this day: May 17 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 352Election of Pope Liberius following the death of Pope Julius I in the previous month.Europe
2. 884Election of Pope Hadrian III following the death of Pope Marinus I earlier that month.Europe
3. 1395Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.Middle East
4. 1521Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.Europe
5. 1527Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men – by 1536 only four survive.EuropeNorth America
6. 1536George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.Europe
7. 1536Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's marriage is annulled.Europe
8. 1590Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.Europe
9. 1639The treaty of Zuhab ends the fifteen-year-long war between the Ottomans and the Safavids.Middle East
10. 1642Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.North America
11. 1648An allied French and Swedish army defeats Imperial and Bavarian forces in the Battle of Zusmarshausen.Europe
12. 1673Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.North America
13. 1756Seven Years' War formally begins when Great Britain declares war on France.Europe
14. 1760French forces besieging Quebec retreat after the Royal Navy arrives to relieve the British garrison.EuropeNorth America
15. 1792The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.North America
16. 1805Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.Middle East
17. 1809Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.Europe
18. 1814Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.Europe
19. 1814The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.Europe
20. 1859Members of the Melbourne Football Club codify the first rules of Australian rules football.Oceania
21. 1863Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.Europe
22. 1863American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeat a Confederate rearguard and capture around 1,700 men at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge.North America
23. 1865The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.Europe
24. 1875Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75).North America
25. 1900The children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author's sister.North America
26. 1902Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.Europe
27. 1914The Protocol of Corfu is signed, recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.Europe
28. 1915The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.Europe
29. 1933Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.Europe
30. 1937Spanish Civil War: The Largo Caballero government resigns in the wake of the Barcelona May Days, leading Juan Negrín to form a government, without the anarcho-syndicalist CNT, in its stead.Europe
31. 1939The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.North America
32. 1940World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.Europe
33. 1943World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No. 617 Squadron RAF.Europe
34. 1953Delta Air Lines Flight 318 crashes near Marshall, Texas, killing 19.North America
35. 1954The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.North America
36. 1959In Cuba, the First Agrarian Reform Law – a cornerstone of the Cuban Revolution – is signed by Fidel Castro, aiming to eliminate large foreign-owned estates and redistribute land to over 100,000 peasants.Latin America
37. 1967Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.Middle East
38. 1969Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.Europe
39. 1973Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.North America
40. 1974Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.North America
41. 1974The Troubles: Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.Europe
42. 1977Nolan Bushnell opens the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (later renamed Chuck E. Cheese) in San Jose, California.North America
43. 1980Rioting breaks out in downtown Miami, following the acquittal of four white police officers in the killing of Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance salesman.North America
44. 1980General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.Asia
45. 1980On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.Latin America
46. 1983The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds [1.9 kt]), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.North America
47. 1983Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.Middle EastNorth America
48. 1984Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend", sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.Europe
49. 1987Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.Middle EastNorth America
50. 1990The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.World
51. 1992Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, hundreds of injuries, many disappearances, and more than 3,500 arrests.Asia
52. 1994Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.Africa
53. 1995Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.North America
54. 1997Troops of Laurent-Désiré Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.Africa
55. 2000Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen.Europe
56. 2004The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.North America
57. 2006The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.Latin America
58. 2007Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.Asia
59. 2010Pamir Airways Flight 112 crashes in Afghanistan's Shakardara District, killing 44.Asia
60. 2014A military plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "May 17" / CC BY-SA 4.0