May 17

Events
Up to 1900
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 Montreal.
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 - Rosalia 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.
1901 2000
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.
From 2001
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.
Births
Up to 1900
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 1950
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 Schonherr, 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 - Therese 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 Drnovsek, 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 1975
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
From 1976
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 - Teofilo Gutierrez, 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
Deaths
Up to 1900
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 - Rene Caillie, French explorer (b. 1799)
1839 - Archibald Alison, Scottish writer (b. 1757)
1860 - Martin Kukucin, 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)
1901 2000
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)
From 2001
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 - Jorgen 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)
Observances
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
Days of the year