On this day in History - May 17

• 0352 - Liberius began his reign as Catholic Pope replacing Julius I.
• 0884 - St. Adrian III began his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 1383 - Casamento da herdeira Beatriz de Portugal com o rei João I de Castela.
• 1498 - Vasco da Gama desembarca en la India, a donde llega circunnavegando África.
• 1510 - Sandro Botticelli, dies (b. 1445). Italian painter. Birth of Venus .
• 1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
• 1536 - O casamento de Ana Bolena e Henrique VIII de Inglaterra é dissolvido .
• 1575 - Matthew Parker, dies (b. 1504). Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1590 - Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
• 1628 - Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria.
• 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.
• 1727 - Catherine I of Russia dies (b. 1683 or 1684).
• 1729 - Samuel Clarke, dies (b. 1675). English philosopher.
• 1743 - Seth Warner, was born (d. 1784). American revolutionary leader.
• 1749 - Edward Jenner, was born (d. 1823). Inventor of the vaccine.
• 1758 - John St Aubyn, was born (d. 1839). British fossil collector.
• 1765 - Alexis Claude Clairault, dies (b. 1713).French mathematician.
• 1768 - Caroline of Brunswick, was born (d. 1821). Princess of Wales.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.
• 1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
• 1794 - Anna Brownell Jameson, was born (d. 1860). British writer.
• 1803 Napoleón rompe la Paz de Amiens de 27 de marzo de 1802 y reemprende la guerra.
• 1806 - Nace Pascual Madoz Ibáñez, intelectual, político y escritor español.
• 1809 - Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire Pope Pius VII responded by excommunicating Napoleon.
• 1814- Norway gets its own constitution.
• 1814 - Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
• 1821 - Sebastian Kneipp, was born (d. 1897). Naturopathist.
• 1829 - John Jay, dies (b. 174). First Chief Justice of the United States.
• 1836 - Wilhelm Steinitz, was born (d. 1900). Chess player.
• 1838 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, dies (b. 1754). French diplomat.
• 1839 - Archibald Alison, dies (b. 1757). Scottish author.
• 1842 - August Thyssen, was born (d. 1926). Industrialist.
• 1844 - Julius Wellhausen, was born (d. 1918). German biblical scholar.
• 1845 - Nace Jacint Verdaguer, poeta catalán.
• 1846 - The Saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
• 1863 - Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in Galician language.
• 1865 - International Telegraph Union (later International Telecommunication Union) is established.
• 1866 - Erik Satie, was born (d. 1925). French composer.
• 1873 - Henri Barbusse, was born (d. 1935). French novelist and journalist.
• 1873 - Dorothy Richardson, was born (d. 1957). English feminist writer.
• 1875 - Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
• 1875 - John C. Breckinridge, dies (b. 1821). Vice President of the United States.
• 1875 - Popular rider Oliver Lewis rode H.P. McGrath's thoroughbred Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby at the Louisville Jockey Club. Fourteen of the fifteen jockeys in the Derby, including Lewis, were African Americans.
• 1879 - Simon Petlyura, was born (d. 1926). Ukrainian independence fighter.
• 1884 - Alaska became a US territory.
• 1886 - Alfonso XIII of Spain was born.
• 1888 - Tich Freeman, was born (d. 1965). Record-breaking Kent leg-spinner.
• 1889 - Natalicio de Don Alfonso Reyes.
• 1898 - Alfred Joseph Casson was born (d. 1992). Painter.
• 1900 - Ruhollah Khomeini, was born.
• 1900 - Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking. 1900, 17 May - Boer War: Relief of MafekingAfter 216 days Boer forces abandon the siege and Colonel Mahon's relief column enters the town.
• 1900 - Mexico: El presidente Porfirio Díaz inaugura solemnemente las obras de desagüe del Valle de México, mismas que se iniciaran en 1888 por el ingeniero Luis Espinosa y que tienen una extensión de cuarenta y siete kilómetros. Su costo fue de dieciséis millones de pesos.
• 1901- Werner Egk, was born (d. 1983). Composer.
• 1902 - Archaeologist Spyridon Stais finds the Antikythera mechanism.
• 1903 - Cool Papa Bell, was born (d. 1991). Baseball player.
• 1904 - Jean Gabin, was born (d. 1976). French actor.
• 1906 - Zinka Milanov, was born (d. 1989). Croatian opera soprano.
• 1911 - El general Benjamiín G. Hill de las fuerzas maderistas, ataca y toma la población de Navojoa, Sonora.
• 1911 - Los representantes de Don Francisco I. Madero y el representante del dictador Porfirio Díaz firman en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, un armisticio por el que se suspenden las hostilidades en todo el país y se impone al gobierno la obligación de reparar las vías férreas y telegráficas en tanto se fijan las condiciones de paz nacional.
• 1911 - Nace Antonio Tovar, lingüista español.
• 1911 - Maureen O'Sullivan, was born (d. 1998). Actress.
• 1915 - The last British Liberal Party government (Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
• 1917 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, dies (b. 1829). Ruler of Sarawak.
• 1918 - Birgit Nilsson, was born in Karup. Swedish operatic soprano (Isolde, Turandot, Elektra, Salome.
• 1919 - Merle Miller, was born (d. 1986). Presidential biographer.
• 1919 - Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike.
• 1921 - Dennis Brain, was born (d. 1957). English French horn player.
• 1922 - Antje Weisgerber, was born. Actress.
• 1924 - Hannes Messemer, was born (d. 1991). Actor.
• 1924 - Se funda la Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
• 1929 - Nascimento em São Paulo de John Herbert (John Herbert Buckup). Actor brasileiro.
• 1933 - Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling - the national-socialist party of Norway.
• 1935 - Dennis Potter, was born (d. 1994). Writer.
• 1935 - Paul Dukas, dies (b. 1865). French composer.
• 1936 - Dennis Hopper, was born in Kansas . American actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider).
• 1937 - Hazel R. O'Leary, was born. United States Secretary of Energy.
• 1940 - World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
• 1941 - World War II: North AfricaRommel is instructed by Berlin to leave Torbruk to the Italians and concentrate his Deutsches Afrika Korps on the fight along the Egypt-Libya border.
• 1942 - Taj Mahal, was born. Singer, guitarist.
• 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.
• 1945 - Tony Roche, was born. Australian tennis player.
• 1946 - Udo Lindenberg, was born. Musician.
• 1946 - William Jefferson Blythe III, dies (b. 1918). Father of U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• 1947 - George William Forbes, dies (b. 1869). Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 1948 - William Bruford, was born. Drummer, songwriter.
• 1948 - The Soviet Union recognized the new state of Israel.
• 1950 - Janez Drnovšek, was born. Slovene politician.
• 1954 - The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
• 1955 - Bill Paxton, was born. Actor.
• 1956 - Sugar Ray Leonard, was born in Willington, SC. Boxer (Olympics-gold-76).
• 1956 - Bob Saget, was born. Actor.
• 1956 - Nascimento em Floraí - PR, de Nicole Puzzi (Tereza Nicole Puzzi Ferreira). Actriz brasileira.
• 1956 -Nationalist China breaks off relation with Egypt after President Gamal Abdel Nasser grants diplomatic recognition to Communist China.
• 1959 - Paul Di'Anno, was born. Singer.
• 1959 - Jim Nantz, was born. Broadcaster.
• 1960 - British Queen Mother starts the hydro-electric turbines of the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi. She applauds the "young and enterprising" Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
• 1961 - Enya,was born. Singer, songwriter.
• 1961 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro offered to exchange prisoners captured in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion for 500 bulldozers.
• 1962 - Lise Lyng Falkenberg, was born. Danish writer.
• 1964 - President Ahmed Ben Bella, of the republic of Algeria, returns home after a 25-day diplomatic tour to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
• 1965 - Trent Reznor, was born. Singer, songwriter ("Nine Inch Nails").
• 1966 - Qusay Hussein, was born (d. 2003). Son of Saddam Hussein.
• 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.
• 1971- Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, was born. Wife of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
• 1971 - Shaun Hart, was born. Australian rules footballer.
• 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 - Constituição da Cia. Hidrelétrica de Itaipu, a maior do mundo, pelo presidente brasileiro Geisel e pelo ditador paraguaio Stroessner.
• 1974 - Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.
• 1974 - Andrea Corr, was born. Singer ("The Corrs").
• 1975 - Sasha Alexander, was born. American actress.
• 1975 - Laura Voutilainen, was born. Finnish singer.
• 1977 - Menachem Begin's Likud-party won election in Israel.
• 1978 - South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko.
• 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.
• 1985 - Abe Burrows, dies. Songwriter, composer, and writer.
• 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.
• 1989 - A military coup fails to remove Mengistu Haile Mariam as president of Ethiopia.
• 1989 - More than 1 million people swarmed into central Beijing to express support for Chinese students fasting for democracy.
• 1991 - The UN's High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has predicted that 1,200,000 people in Ethiopia are about to starve to death.
• 1992 - Lawrence Welk, dies (b. 1903). American musician.
• 1993 - Egyptian president Muhammad Hosni Mubarak orders direct-dial communications to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the Sudan cut as part of the fight against Islamic extremists.
• 1995 - After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.
• 1997 - In Zaire rebel forces entered Kinshasa and Laurent Kabila declared himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 1998 - In Afghanistan Taliban jet fighters bombed a crowded market and killed at least 30 people and wounded 50 in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province.
• 1999 - Ehud Barak (Labour Party) is elected prime minister of Israel. He won over Benjamin Netanyahu 56% to 44%.
• 1999 - Henry Jones, actor, died at age 86 in Los Angeles. His films included "This Is the Army" (1943).
• 2000 - Donald Coggan, dies (b. 1909). 101st Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 2000 - In Yugoslavia Pres. Milosevic ordered the seizure of independent radio and TV stations and charging that they were advocating an uprising against the government. Tens of thousands protested the crackdown.
• 2002 - Dave Berg, dies (b. 1920). Cartoonist.
• 2002 - Sharon Sheeley, dies (b. 1940). Songwriter.
• 2002 - Davey Boy Smith, dies (b. 1962). Professional wrestler.
• 2003 - Mozilla Firefox. Browser renamed from Phoenix to Firebird.
• 2003 - In south-central Sri Lanka flash floods and landslides killed at least 300 people and drove some 150,000 people from their homes.
• 2004 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.
• 2004 - Tony Randall, dies (b. 1920). Actor.
• 2004 - Jørgen Nash, dies (b. 1920). Artist.
• 2004 - Ezzedine Salim, dies. Leader of Iraqi Governing Council
• 2004 - China and Kazakhstan agreed to build a 744-mile crude oil pipeline to send an initial 10 million tons of Kazakh oil to Xinjiang by 2006.
• 2005 - Portugal asume a Presidencia do Conselho da Europa, sucedendo à Polónia.
• Day of the Galician Letters - Día das Letras Galegas - holiday in Galicia, honoring Galician language.
• Norwegian Constitution Day - Syttende Mai a commemoration of the adoption of Norway's constitution in 1814.
• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of 'Azaamat (Grandeur) - First day of the fourth month of the Bahá'í Calendar.
• Día Mundial de la Telecomunicaciones.