May 17 May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). There are 228 days remaining. Events 1500-1899 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 - Norway gets its own constitution. 1814 - Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian. 1846 - The Saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax. 1865 - International Telegraph Union (later International Telecommunication Union) is established. 1875 - Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby. 1900-1999 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. 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 Israel. 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 - Los Angeles, California police raid Symbionese Liberation Army headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall. 1974 - Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland. 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. 1995 - Jacques Chirac assumes the presidency 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. Births 1600-1899 1628 - Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria 1749 - Edward Jenner, inventor of the vaccine (d. 1823) 1758 - John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839) 1768 - Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales (d. 1821) 1794 - Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860) 1821 - Sebastian Kneipp, naturopathist (d. 1897) 1842 - August Thyssen, industrialist (d. 1926) 1844 - Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918) 1866 - Erik Satie, French composer (d. 1925) 1873 - Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935) 1873 - Dorothy Richardson, writer (d. 1957) 1879 - Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926) 1886 - Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941) 1898 - Alfred Joseph Casson painter (d. 1992) 1900-1999 1900 - Ruhollah Khomeini, (d. 1981) 1901 - Werner Egk, composer (d. 1983) 1903 - Cool Papa Bell, baseball player (d. 1991) 1904 - Jean Gabin, actor (d. 1976) 1906 - Zinka Milanov, Croatian opera soprano (d. 1989) 1911 - Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (d. 1998) 1918 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano 1921 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957) 1922 - Antje Weisgerber, actress 1924 - Hannes Messemer, actor (d. 1991) 1935 - Dennis Potter, writer (d. 1994) 1936 - Dennis Hopper, actor, director 1937 - Hazel R. O'Leary, United States Secretary of Energy 1942 - Taj Mahal, singer, guitarist 1945 - Tony Roche, Australian tennis player 1946 - Udo Lindenberg, musician 1948 - William Bruford, drummer, songwriter 1950 - Janez Drnovšek, Slovene politician 1955 - Bill Paxton, actor 1956 - Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer 1956 - Bob Saget, actor 1959 - Paul Di'Anno, singer 1961 - Enya, singer, songwriter 1965 - Trent Reznor, singer, songwriter ("Nine Inch Nails") 1966 - Qusay Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein (d. 2003) 1968 - Al Stiff, Harness Driver 1971 - Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, wife of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands 1974 - Andrea Corr, singer ("The Corrs") 1975 - Sasha Alexander, American actress 1975 - Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer 1987 - Amanda Kleinman, singer extraordinaire Deaths 1500-1899 1510 - Sandro Botticelli, painter of The birth of Venus (b. 1445) 1575 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504) 1727 - Catherine I of Russia (b. 1683 or 1684) 1729 - Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675) 1765 - Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713) 1829 - John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745) 1838 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754) 1839 - Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757) 1875 - John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821) 1900-1999 1917 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829) 1935 - Paul Dukas, composer (b.1865) 1946 - William Jefferson Blythe III, father of U.S. President Bill Clinton, is born in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas (b. 1918) 1947 - George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869) 1985 - Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, writer 1992 - Lawrence Welk, musician (b. 1903) 2000-2099 2000 - Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909) 2002 - Dave Berg, cartoonist for Mad magazine (b. 1920) 2002 - Sharon Sheeley, songwriter (b. 1940) 2004 - Tony Randall, actor (The Odd Couple) (b. 1920) 2004 - Jørgen Nash, artist, situationist (b. 1920) 2004 - Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council Holidays and observances Norwegian Constitution Day Bahá'í Faith - Feast of 'Azaamat (Grandeur) - First day of the fourth month of the Bahá'í Calendar May 16 - May 18 - April 17 - June 17 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. 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