May 17

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

1 Events
2 Births
- 2.1 1155 to 1899
- 2.2 1900 to 1999
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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Events

1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
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.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.
1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
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.
- Norwegian constitution signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Fredrik elected King of Norway by the Constitutional assembly.
1846 - The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
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.
1900 - Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1902 - Archaeologist Spyridon Stais finds the Antikythera mechanism.
1915 - The last British Liberal Party government (Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
1919 - Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike.
1933 - Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
1940 - World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1943 - World War II: Surviving RAF Dam Busters return.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
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, equipped with M-16 rifles, open fire.
1995 - After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.
1999 - Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.
2003 - Mozilla Firefox. Browser renamed from Phoenix to Firebird.
2004 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.