What are the important events that happened on May 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 17 is the 137^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 4, 2025 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,124,000 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectatriacontaheptagon’ day.

Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 276 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,530 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 17 Historical Events

• 1805 –
  Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
• 1814 –
  Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
• 1849 –
  A large fire nearly burns St. Louis, Missouri to the ground.
• 1863 –
  Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
• 1939 –
  The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States’ first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
• 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.
• 1969 –
  Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
• 1973 –
  Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
• 1974 –
  Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.

Who were born on May 17?

• 1718 –
  Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (d. 1778)
• 1918 –
  Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
• 1931 –
  Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader of Heaven’s Gate (d. 1997)
• 1950 –
  Howard Ashman, American lyricist (d. 1991)
• 1964 –
  David Eigenberg, American actor
• 1973 –
  Sasha Alexander, American television actress
• 1975 –
  Alex Wright, German professional wrestler
• 1975 –
  Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer
• 1982 –
  Matt Cassel, American football player
• 1994 –
  Julie Anne San Jose, Filipina child actress and singer

Who died on May 17?

• 1838 –
  Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French diplomat (b. 1754)
• 1839 –
  Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
• 1911 –
  Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American entrepreneur (b. 1836)
• 1927 –
  Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
• 1947 –
  George William Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
• 1966 –
  Randy Turpin, English boxer, known as the Leamington Licker, (b. 1928)
• 2002 –
  Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
• 2004 –
  Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)
• 2006 –
  Eric Forth, British Member of Parliament (b. 1944)
• 2009 –
  Jung Seung-hye, South Korean film producer (b. 1965)