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

1521 - execution of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, 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 - 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 - 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 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 - 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.