1500s / 16th century history on the 17th of May
1510 : Sandro Botticelli the Italian painter died aged 65 (born in 1445).
1700s / 18th century history on the 17th of May
1729 : Samuel Clarke the English philosopher died from a sudden illness, aged 53 (born in 1675).
1792 : The NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE was formed, when 24 brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement. The first securities traded were War Bonds from the Revolutionary War and First Bank of the United States stock. The first shares traded were the Bank of North America, the First Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York. Official website of the New York Stock Exchange : NYSE.com
1800s / 19th century history on the 17th of May
1859 : The first rules of AUSTRALiAN RULES FOOTBALL were formed by members of the Melbourne Football Club. It is now known as AFL.
1900s / 20th century history on the 17th of May
1900 : The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel by L. Frank Baum was published for the first time, in the United States. The first copy of the novel was given to the sister of the author. More than 3 million copies of the book were sold by the time it entered the public domain in 1956.
1902 : The Antikythera mechanism was discovered by Valerios Stais, a Greek archaeologist, in a shipwreck off the coast of Antikythera, a Greek island (satellite map). The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer, which is hand-powered mechanism to calculate astronomical phenomena in the Solar System such as eclipses, and other astronomical positions. It has been dated to be over 2100 years old.
1918 : Birgit Nilsson the Swedish operatic soprano was born Märta Birgit Nilsson in Västra Karup, Skåne, Sweden (died in 2005 aged 87).
1922 : Jean Rédélé the founder of Alpine cars, was born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France (died in 2007 aged 85). He was the youngest Renault dealer in France, which he started at the age of 28 in 1950. Jean Rédélé created the brand Alpine in 1955, to manufacture racing and sports cars. Official website : AlpineCars.com
1936 : Dennis Hopper the American actor and filmmaker was born in Dodge City, Kansas, USA (died in 2010 aged 74).
1942 : Taj Mahal, American blues musician was born Henry Saint Claire Fredericks in Harlem, New York, USA. Official website : TajBlues.com
1955 : Bill Paxton the American actor was born William Paxton in Fort Worth, Texas, USA (died in 2017 aged 61).
1956 : Sugar Ray Leonard the American boxer was born Ray Charles Leonard in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.
1956 : Bob Saget the American comedian and actor was born Robert Lane Saget in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Official website : BobSaget.com
1961 : Enya the Irish singer-songwriter was born Enya Patricia Brennan in Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland.
1962 : Craig Ferguson the Scottish-American television host was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland. He was best known for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005 to 2014) Website : TheCraigFergusonShow.com
1969 : Soviet Venera 6 began its descent into the Venus atmosphere of Venus, while recording and transmitting atmospheric data to Earth, before it was crushed by pressure.
1984 : Passenger the English musician was born Michael David Rosenberg in Brighton, England. Website : PassengerMusic.com
1988 : Nikki Reed the American actress was born Nicole Houston Reed in Los Angeles, California, USA.
1990 : Homosexuality was eliminated from the list of psychiatric diseases, by the World Health Organization (WHO).
2000s / 21st century history on the 17th of May
2004 : Tony Randall the American actor died aged 84 (born in 1920). He is best known as Felix Unger in The Odd Couple television series from 1970 to 1975.
2004 : The 1st legal same-sex marriages in the USA, were performed in Massachusetts.
2012 : Donna Summer the American singer died from lung cancer, aged 63 (born in 1948).
see more interesting events on all the other days of MAY (History On This Day @ Azoosh)
This page was last updated on the 17th May 2021
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