May 17

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.

• 1395 - In the Battle of Rovine, Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman Empire army.
• 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham is executed for treason.
• 1536 - George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason in England.
• 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
• 1642 – Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612 – 1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
• 1673 – Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
• 1697 - The Tre Kronor castle in Stockholm is almost completely destroyed by fire.
• 1724 - The Krafla volcano in Iceland erupts, creating the Viti crater.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.
• 1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
• 1808 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
• 1814 – Norway gets its own Constitution.
• 1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
• 1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
• 1849 - A large fire almost completely destroys Saint Louis, Missouri.
• 1861 - Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the first color photograph, an image of a tartan ribbon.
• 1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in the Galician language.
• 1865 – The International Telegraph Union (the later International Telecommunication Union) is established.
• 1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
• 1884 - The "Department of Alaska" is renamed "District of Alaska".
• 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.

• 1902 – Archaeologist Spyridon Stais finds the Antikythera mechanism.
• 1914 - The Protocol of Corfu is signed.
• 1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
• 1919 – Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike.
• 1928 - The 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam begin.
• 1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
• 1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
• 1940 - World War II: The German Luftwaffe bombs the city of Middelburg, Zeeland, Netherlands.
• 1943 – World War II: Surviving RAF Dam Busters return.
• 1943 – The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
• 1944 – Type IX U-boat: U-884 is launched.
• 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 Abdul 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: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
• 1974 – Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
• 1974 – Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.
• 1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea 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, Peru, beginning the internal conflict in Peru.
• 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 – Iran-Iraq War: The USS Stark (FFG-31) is struck by a missile from an Iraqi Mirage fighter killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
• 1990 – The World Health Organization removed homosexuality from ICD - the origin of the International Day Against Homophobia.
• 1992 – In Thailand, the so-called Black May begins. Thai police and protestors start attacking one another. By midnight, the current Thai government declares a state of emergency, and military troops with M-16 rifles open fire.
• 1994 - The first multi-party elections in Malawi are held.
• 1995 – After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.
• 1997 - Troops of Laurent Kabila enter Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 1999 – Ehud Barak is elected Prime Minister of Israel.
• 2000 - Arsenal FC and Galatasaray fans clash before the UEFA Cup final in Copenhagen. Galatasaray wins 4-1 to become the first Turkish football team to win a major European trophy.

• 2002 - Legoland Germany opens in Günzburg, Germany.
• 2003 – Mozilla Firefox. Browser renamed from Phoenix to Firebird.
• 2004 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.
• 2005 – Reverend Clarence Silva of Oakland is appointed fifth Bishop of Honolulu, Hawaii.
• 2006 - Aircraft carrier "USS Oriskany" is sunk off 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.
• 2010 - Portugal legalizes same-sex marriage.
• 2011 - Elizabeth II makes a historic state visit to the Republic of Ireland.
• 2014 - Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia both declare a State of Emergency after experiencing their worst flooding in over 100 years, killing at least 25 people.
• 2014 - A plane crash in Northern Laos kills 17 people.
• 2015 - Nine people are killed in a shoot-out between two biker gangs in Waco, Texas.
• 2016 - Christian Kern succeeds Werner Faymann as Chancellor of Austria.
• 2018 - Quim Torra is sworn in as President of Catalonia.

• 1155 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)
• 1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
• 1550 - Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Italian nobleman (d. 1540)
• 1628 – Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria
• 1682 - Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
• 1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1817)
• 1743 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (d. 1784)
• 1749 – Edward Jenner, British inventor of the vaccine (d. 1823)
• 1758 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839)
• 1763 - Pierre Adet, French physician and chemist (d. 1834)
• 1768 – Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales (d. 1821)
• 1791 - Silas H. Jennison, Governor of Vermont (d. 1849)
• 1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860)
• 1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, naturopathist (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, chess player (d. 1900)
• 1836 - Norman Lockyer, British scientist and astronomer (d. 1920)
• 1842 – August Thyssen, German industrialist (d. 1926)
• 1844 – Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)
• 1845 - Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (d. 1902)
• 1860 - Austin Lane Crothers, Governor of Maryland (d. 1912)
• 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 feminist writer (d. 1957)
• 1879 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)
• 1886 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)
• 1888 – Tich Freeman, record-breaking Kent leg-spinner (d. 1965)
• 1889 - Dorothy Gibson, American actress (d. 1946)
• 1891 – Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (d. 1959)
• 1895 - Mary Josephine Ray, Canadian-American supercentenarian (d. 2010)
• 1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Alfred Joseph Casson, painter (d. 1992)
• 1900 – Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran (d. 1989)

• 1901 – Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)
• 1902 - Khuang Abhaiwongse, Thai politician (d. 1968)
• 1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Jean Gabin, actor (d. 1976)
• 1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian opera soprano (d. 1989)
• 1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (d. 1998)
• 1912 - Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
• 1912 - Ace Parker, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1912 - Percy Young, British composer (d. 2004)
• 1913 - Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver (d. 2007)
• 1913 - Waldemar de Brito, Brazilian footballer (d. 1979)
• 1914 - Chang Ch'ung-ho, Chinese-American poet, educator and singer (d. 2015)
• 1917 - Boris Schnaiderman, Ukrainian-Brazilian translator, writer and essayist (d. 2016)
• 1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Merle Miller, Presidential biographer (d. 1986)
• 1919 - Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer, actor, movie producer and screenwriter (d. 2007)
• 1921 - Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)
• 1922 – Antje Weisgerber, German actress (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Hannes Messemer, actor (d. 1991)
• 1925 - Michel de Certeau, French Jesuit and scholar (d. 1986)
• 1926 - David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer
• 1926 - Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian actor (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, Heaven's Gate (d. 1997)
• 1932 - Rodric Braithwaite, English diplomat
• 1932 - Miloslav Vlk, Czech cardinal (d. 2017)
• 1933 - Thérèse Steinmetz, Dutch singer and painter
• 1934 – Ronald Wayne, American Apple Inc. co-founder
• 1934 - Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German politician
• 1934 - Earl Morrall, American baseball player (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)
• 1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor, director (d. 2010)
• 1936 - Philippe Boesmans, Belgian composer
• 1936 - Lars Gustafsson, Swedish writer and philosopher (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Hazel R. O'Leary, United States Secretary of Energy
• 1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist
• 1941 – Ben Nelson, 40th Governor of Nebraska
• 1941 – Grace Zabriskie, American actress
• 1942 – Taj Mahal, American singer and guitarist
• 1943 - Alexander Lenkov, Russian actor (d. 2014)
• 1944 - Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
• 1944 - David Kelly, British weapons expert (d. 2003)
• 1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
• 1945 - B. S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
• 1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
• 1948 - Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer
• 1948 - Winfried Kretschmann, German politician
• 1949 - Andrew Latimer, British musician
• 1949 - Bill Bruford, British drummer and songwriter
• 1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovene politician (d. 2008)
• 1950 – Alan Johnson, British politician
• 1950 - Howard Ashman, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1991)
• 1950 - Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian politician (d. 2014)

• 1951 – Simon Hughes, British politician
• 1953 - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan
• 1953 - Luca Prodan, Italian-Argentine singer-songwriter
• 1954 - Dame Patsy Reddy, 21st Governor-General of New Zealand
• 1954 - David Zippel, American lyricist
• 1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor (d. 2017)
• 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
• 1956 - Annise Parker, American politician
• 1956 – Bob Saget, actor (d. 2022)
• 1957 - Peter Hoeg, Danish writer
• 1958 – Paul Di'Anno, English singer
• 1958 - Paul Whitehouse, Welsh actor, writer and comedian
• 1958 - Ivor Bolton, British conductor
• 1959 – Jim Nantz, American broadcaster
• 1960 - Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor and producer
• 1960 - Simon Fuller, Cypriot-English talent manager and producer
• 1961 – Enya, Irish singer
• 1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer
• 1962 - Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor and television host
• 1962 – Alan Johnston, Scottish journalist
• 1963 - Jon Koncak, American basketball player
• 1963 - Taimo Toonast, Estonian opera singer
• 1965 – Jeremy Vine, British broadcaster
• 1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer, songwriter ("Nine Inch Nails")
• 1966 – Qusay Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein (d. 2003)
• 1966 - Hill Harper, American actor
• 1967 - Joseph M. Acaba, American astronaut
• 1967 - Paul D'Amour, American bass player and author
• 1967 - Mohamed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives
• 1970 - Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter
• 1970 - Angelica Agurbash, Belarussian singer
• 1970 - Jeremy Browne, English politician
• 1971 – Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, Queen Consort of the Netherlands
• 1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian rules footballer
• 1971 - Gina Raimondo, American politician, 75th Governor of Rhode Island
• 1973 - Sasha Alexander, American actress
• 1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
• 1974 – Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor
• 1975 – Jonti Picking, internet cartoonist
• 1975 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer

• 1976 - Leehom Wang, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, producer and director
• 1978 – Paddy Kenny, Irish footballer
• 1979 - David Jarolim, Czech footballer
• 1979 - Jimmie Akesson, Swedish politician
• 1980 - Juan Arango, Venezuelan footballer
• 1980 - Dallas Taylor, American singer, songwriter and musician
• 1981 - Cosma Shiva Hagen, German actress
• 1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
• 1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
• 1982 - Clarence Goodson, American soccer player
• 1982 – Chloe Smith, British politician
• 1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
• 1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
• 1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
• 1984 - Christine Ohuruogu, English athlete
• 1984 - Passenger, English singer and composer
• 1984 - Igor Denisov, Russian footballer
• 1984 - Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
• 1986 - Amy Gumenick, Swedish-born American actress
• 1986 - Bojan Jokic, Slovenian footballer
• 1986 - Jodie Taylor, English footballer
• 1987 - Evald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
• 1987 - Ott Lepland, Estonian singer
• 1988 - Nikki Reed, American actress
• 1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
• 1989 - Sarah Hargreaves, Danish-British handball player
• 1990 – Leven Rambin, American actress
• 1991 - Johanna Konta, Australian-born British tennis player
• 1991 - Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
• 1996 - Ryan Ochoa, American actor

• 290 – Emperor Wu of Jin of China (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)
• 1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
• 1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1748)
• 1536 - George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
• 1551 - Shin Saimdang, Korean writer, artist and poet (b. 1504)
• 1575 – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)
• 1626 – Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
• 1643 - Giovanni Picchi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1571)
• 1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1683 or 1684)
• 1729 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)
• 1765 – Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713)
• 1809 – Leon 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, French diplomat (b. 1754)
• 1838 - René Caillié, French explorer (b. 1799)
• 1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish writer (b. 1757)
• 1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak writer (b. 1757)
• 1870 - David Octavius Hill, Scottish artist and photographer (b. 1802)
• 1875 – John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
• 1880 - Ziya Pasha, Ottoman writer and translator (b. 1826)
• 1886 - John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (b. 1804)
• 1888 - Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)

• 1911 - Frederick August Otto Schwarz, German-American businessman (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 occultist and writer (b. 1848)
• 1923 - Thomas Scott Baldwin, American balloonist and aviation pioneer (b. 1854)
• 1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer (b.1865)
• 1936 - Panagis Tsaldaris, 124th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1868)
• 1943 - Johanna Elberskirchen, German activist (b. 1864)
• 1946 – William Jefferson Blythe III, father of U.S. President Bill Clinton (b. 1918)
• 1947 – George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
• 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (b. 1903)
• 1963 - John Wilce, American football player (b. 1888)
• 1966 – Randy Turpin, English boxer (b. 1928)
• 1969 - Josef Beran, Czech cardinal (b. 1888)
• 1985 – Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, and writer
• 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist (b. 1898)
• 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
• 1995 - Joe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912)
• 1999 - Lembit Oll, Estonian chess player (b. 1966)
• 2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)

• 2002 – Dave Berg, cartoonist (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Sharon Sheeley, songwriter (b. 1940)
• 2002 – Davey Boy Smith, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Jørgen Nash, artist (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council
• 2005 – Frank Gorshin, actor (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American writer (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Khattiya Sawasdipol, Thai general (b. 1951)
• 2010 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)
• 2012 - Gideon Ezra, Israeli politician (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Donna Summer, American disco singer (b. 1948)
• 2013 - Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine military leader (b. 1925)
• 2013 - Alan O'Day, American singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
• 2013 - Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (b. 1973)
• 2013 - Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (b. 1930)
• 2014 - Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist (b. 1929)
• 2014 - Miss Beazley, pet dog of George W. Bush (b. 2004)
• 2015 - Chinx, American rapper (b. 1983)
• 2015 - Margaret Dunning, American philanthropist (b. 1910)
• 2015 - Michael Alfred Peszke, Polish-born American psychiatrist and historian (b. 1932)
• 2016 - Guy Clark, American folk singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 2016 - Benjamin de Roo, Dutch-Australian gymnast (b. 1940)
• 2017 - Viktor Gorbatko, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1934)
• 2017 - Roxcy Bolton, American activist (b. 1926)
• 2017 - Rhodri Morgan, Welsh politician, First Minister of Wales (b. 1939)
• 2017 - Chris Cornell, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1964)
• 2018 - Nicole Fontaine, French lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
• 2018 - Richard Pipes, Polish-American academic and political expert (b. 1923)
• 2018 - Mehdi Tabatabaei, Iranian politician (b. 1936)
• 2019 - Rallapalli, Indian actor (b. 1945)
• 2019 - Eduardo A. Roca, Argentine diplomat (b. 1921)
• 2019 - Kadavoor Sivadasan, Indian politician and trade unionist (b. 1932)
• 2019 - Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)

• Constitution Day, National Day of Norway
• Constitution Day (Nauru)
• Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Navy Day (Argentina)
• International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
• National Famine Memorial Day (Republic of Ireland)
• World Information Society Day
• Galician Literature Day