May 17
1536 – The annulment of
Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn’s marriage.
1590 –
Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
1673 –
Louis Jolliet and
Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
1792 – The
New York Stock Exchange is formed under the
Buttonwood Agreement.
1875 –
Aristides wins the first
Kentucky Derby.
1943 – World War II: the
Dambuster Raids by
No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.
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 Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
1970 –
Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat
Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
1974 – The Troubles:
Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. It is the deadliest attack of the Troubles and the deadliest terrorist attack in the Republic's history. There are allegations that British state forces were involved.
Police in Los Angeles raid the
Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including
Camilla Hall.
1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.
1987 – An Iraqi
Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship
USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
1995 –
Shawn Nelson steals a tank from a military installation and goes on a rampage in San Diego resulting in a 25-minute police chase. Nelson is killed by an officer after the tank got stuck on a concrete barrier.
2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
2006 – The aircraft carrier
USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an
artificial reef.
2015 – At least nine people are killed and 18 injured, some by law enforcement and others in gunfire exchanges,
in a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas.
Births
1866 – Erik Satie; 1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge; 1931 – Marshall Applewhite (Heaven's Gate cult leader); 1934 – Ronald Wayne (co-founder Apple Inc); 1936 – Dennis Hopper; 1942 – Taj Mahal (the musician, not the tomb); 1942 – Al White (jive talker on "Airplane!"); 1944 – Jesse Winchester; 1949 – Bill Bruford; 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, Bob Saget; 1958 – Paul Di'Anno (Iron Maiden); 1959 – Jim Nantz; 1961 – Enya; 1962 – Craig Ferguson; 1965 – Trent Reznor; 1966 – Qusay Hussein (Saddam's boy); 1967 – Paul D'Amour (Tool); 1973 – Sasha Alexander (NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles); 1973 – Josh Homme; 1976 – Kandi Burruss
Deaths
1510 – Sandro Botticelli; 1829 – John Jay; 1875 – John C. Breckinridge; 1879 – Asa Packer (founder Lehigh University); 1886 – John Deere; 1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz (
FAO Schwarz); 1985 – Abe Burrows; 1992 – Lawrence Welk; 1996 – Johnny "Guitar" Watson; 2004 – Tony Randall; 2005 – Frank Gorshin (The Riddler); 2011 – Harmon Killebrew; 2012 – Donna Summer; 2013 – Alan O'Day (
Undercover Angel); 2013 – Ken Venturi; 2014 – Miss Beazley (GWBush's Scottish Terrier)