May 17

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MMXI

May 17 in recent years

2011 (Tuesday)

2010 (Monday)

2009 (Sunday)

2008 (Saturday)

2007 (Thursday)

2006 (Wednesday)

2005 (Tuesday)

2004 (Monday)

2003 (Saturday)

2002 (Friday)

May 17 is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
• 1536 – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
• 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
• 1642 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
• 1673 – Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.
• 1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
• 1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
• 1809 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
• 1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
• 1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
• 1849 – A large fire nearly burns St. Louis, Missouri to the ground.
• 1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
• 1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
• 1869 – Imperial Japanese forces defeat the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Battle of Hakodate to end the Boshin War.
• 1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
• 1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
• 1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
• 1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
• 1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
• 1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
• 1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
• 1940 – World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
• 1943 – The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
• 1943 – World War II: the Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.
• 1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
• 1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
• 1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
• 1970 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
• 1974 – Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
• 1974 – Dublin and Monaghan bombings: Thirty-three civilians are killed when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explodes car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.
• 1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
• 1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
• 1983 – The 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), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.
• 1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
• 1984 – Prince 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.
• 1987 – 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.
• 1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
• 1992 – Three 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, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.
• 1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
• 1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 2004 – Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
• 2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
• 2007 – Trains 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.
• 2009 – Dalia Grybauskaitė is elected the first female President of Lithuania.
• 2009 – renovations on the Cairo Tower are completed

Births

• 1155 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)
• 1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1460)
• 1551 – Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (d. 1601)
• 1628 – Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of Tyrol (d. 1662)
• 1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
• 1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
• 1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (d. 1778)
• 1743 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (d. 1784)
• 1749 – Edward Jenner, English medical researcher (d. 1823)
• 1758 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839)
• 1768 – Caroline of Brunswick, German-born Queen consort of George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1821)
• 1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general (d. 1854)
• 1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860)
• 1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German naturopathist (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (d. 1900)
• 1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian writer and poet (d. 1923)
• 1844 – Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)
• 1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (d. 1902)
• 1866 – Erik Satie, French composer (d. 1925)
• 1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer (d. 1920)
• 1873 – Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935)
• 1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English writer (d. 1957)
• 1886 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)
• 1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
• 1891 – Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (d. 1959)
• 1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and resistance leader during World War II (d. 1957)
• 1895 – Saul Adler FRS, Russian-born British-Israeli expert on parasitology (d. 1966)
• 1895 – Mary Josephine Ray, Canadian supercentenarian (d. 2010)
• 1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Alfred Joseph Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
• 1901 – Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)
• 1903 – Cool Papa Bell, baseball player (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Jean Gabin, French actor (d. 1976)
• 1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian soprano (d. 1989)
• 1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist (d. 1987)
• 1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish actress (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player
• 1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
• 1918 – A. C. Lyles, American film producer
• 1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer and actor (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Merle Miller, American biographer (d. 1986)
• 1921 – Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)
• 1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (d. 1998)
• 1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-born British chemist (d. 1981)
• 1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader of Heaven's Gate (d. 1997)
• 1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German politician
• 1935 – Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)
• 1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Hazel R. O'Leary, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
• 1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
• 1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist
• 1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino Supreme Court Chief Justice
• 1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
• 1941 – Ben Nelson. 40th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska
• 1941 – Grace Zabriskie, American actress
• 1942 – Taj Mahal, American musician
• 1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer (d. 2004)
• 1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
• 1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
• 1946 – F. Paul Wilson, American novelist
• 1947 – Andrew Latimer, English musician (Camel (band))
• 1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish musician, singer and songwriter
• 1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer (Yes, King Crimson)
• 1950 – Howard Ashman, American lyricist (d. 1991)
• 1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian politician (d. 2008)
• 1950 – Valeria Novodvorskaya, Russian politician, dissident, founder and chairwoman of the Democratic Union party
• 1951 – Simon Hughes, British politician
• 1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian politician
• 1953 – Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer and musician (Sumo, Hurlingham Reggae Band)
• 1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and film director
• 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
• 1956 – Bob Saget, American actor
• 1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist
• 1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player
• 1958 – Paul Di'Anno, English singer (Iron Maiden)
• 1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
• 1959 – Jim Nantz, American broadcaster
• 1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter
• 1961 – Enya, Irish singer and songwriter
• 1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor and comedian
• 1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer
• 1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
• 1963 – Page McConnell, American musician and songwriter (Phish)
• 1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer
• 1964 – David Eigenberg, American actor
• 1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
• 1965 – Trent Reznor, American musician (Nine Inch Nails)
• 1965 – Paige Turco, American actress
• 1965 – Jeremy Vine, British journalist and presenter
• 1966 – Hill Harper, American actor
• 1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player
• 1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player
• 1969 – Tabatha Coffey, Australian hairstylist and television personality
• 1969 – Alan Doyle, Canadian musician (Great Big Sea)
• 1969 – Thom Filicia, American television personality
• 1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
• 1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player
• 1970 – Angelica Agurbash, Belarusian singer, actress and model
• 1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial arts fighter
• 1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer
• 1971 – Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
• 1973 – Josh Homme, American musician and songwriter (Queens of the Stone Age)
• 1973 – Matthew McGrory, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1973 – Sasha Alexander, American television actress
• 1973 – Steve Barakatt, Canadian composer
• 1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
• 1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1974 – Eddie Lewis, American football (soccer) player
• 1974 – Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor
• 1975 – Cheick Kongo, French martial artist
• 1975 – Jonti Picking, British cartoonist
• 1975 – Kostas Sommer, Greek actor
• 1975 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer
• 1975 – Alex Wright, German professional wrestler
• 1976 – José Guillén, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 – Leehom Wang, American-born Taiwanese musician and composer
• 1978 – John Foster, American baseball player
• 1978 – Paddy Kenny, Irish football goalkeeper
• 1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican baseball player
• 1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
• 1980 – Davor Džalto, Serbian/Croatian art historian
• 1980 – Dallas Taylor, American singer (Underoath)
• 1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
• 1981 – Shiri Maimon, Israeli singer
• 1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
• 1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Lim Jeong Hee, Korean singer
• 1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
• 1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
• 1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
• 1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
• 1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
• 1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
• 1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
• 1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
• 1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
• 1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
• 1985 – Derek Hough, American dancer and singer
• 1986 – Tahj Mowry, American actor
• 1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress
• 1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
• 1989 – Kris Bernal, Filipina actress
• 1989 – Zach Daniels, American professional wrestler
• 1990 – Leven Rambin, American actress
• 1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper
• 1991 – Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
• 1994 – Julie Anne San Jose, Filipina child actress and singer
• 1996 – Ryan Ochoa, American teen actor

Deaths

• 290 – Sima Yan (Jin Wudi), Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 236)
• 1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
• 1336 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)
• 1365 – Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
• 1395 – Constantine Dragaš, Serbian ruler of a semi-independent realm
• 1464 – Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (executed) (b. 1427)
• 1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
• 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1478)
• 1536 – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, English diplomat (executed) (b. c. 1504)
• 1536 – Francis Weston, English courtier and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber (executed) (b. 1511)
• 1536 – Henry Norris, English courtier and Groom of the Stool (executed) (b. c. 1482)
• 1536 – William Brereton, English courtier and Groom of the Privy Chamber (executed)
• 1536 – Mark Smeaton, English courtier and musician (executed) (b. c. 1512)
• 1575 – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)
• 1626 – Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
• 1643 – Giovanni Picchi, Italian composer
• 1727 – Empress Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
• 1729 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)
• 1765 – Alexis Claude de Clairaut, French mathematician (b. 1713)
• 1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (b. 1719)
• 1801 – William Heberden, English physician (b. 1710)
• 1807 – John Gunby, Maryland Soldier in the American Revolutionary War (b. 1745)
• 1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
• 1822 – Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
• 1829 – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
• 1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French diplomat (b. 1754)
• 1838 – René Caillé, French explorer (b. 1799)
• 1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
• 1868 – Isami Kondo, Japanese Shinsengumi Commander (b. 1834)
• 1875 – John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
• 1879 – Asa Packer, American railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
• 1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (b. 1804)
• 1888 – Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)
• 1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American entrepreneur (b. 1836)
• 1916 – Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
• 1917 – Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
• 1919 – Guido von List, German occult author (b. 1848)
• 1927 – Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
• 1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer (b. 1865)
• 1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)
• 1938 – Jakob Ehrlich, Austrian politician and zionist (b. 1877)
• 1947 – George William Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
• 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, a general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1903)
• 1951 – William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, British general (b. 1865)
• 1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-born psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895)
• 1966 – Randy Turpin, English boxer, known as the Leamington Licker, (b. 1928)
• 1963 – John Wilce, American physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)
• 1974 – Ernest Nash, German-born archaeologist (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Abe Burrows, American songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
• 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
• 1995 – Hector "Toe" Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and NHL coach (b. 1912)
• 1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (b. 1966)
• 1996 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (b. 1959)
• 1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian record producer and musician (b. 1949)
• 2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American novelist and physician (b. 1908)
• 2002 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter (b. 1940)
• 2002 – Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Frank "Pop" Ivy, American and Canadian football coach (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of the Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
• 2006 – Cy Feuer, American playwright (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Eric Forth, British Member of Parliament (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Captain Nichola Goddard, Canadian soldier (b. 1980)
• 2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American author (b. 1924)
• 2007 – T.K. Doraiswamy (also known as Nakulan), Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet (b. 1920)
• 2009 – Jung Seung-hye, South Korean film producer (b. 1965)
• 2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese/American painter (b. 1929)
• 2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Paschal Baylon
  • Restituta
  • May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Nauru)
• Constitution Day (Norway)
• Earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. (Western Christianity)
• Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá'í Faith)
• Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
• International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia aka IDAHO
• Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• National Famine Memorial Day (Ireland)
• Navy Day (Argentina)
• World Information Society Day (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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