May 17: Day of the year

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.

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 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.

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

• 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.

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 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 – 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 - 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

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 - 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)

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 – 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