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 138th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 4, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 476,640 hours 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 ‘hectatriacontaoctagon’ 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 257 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 4,165 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 17 Historical Events
- 1673 –Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
- 1775 –American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.
- 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.
- 1865 –The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
- 1943 –The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
- 1974 –Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
- 1980 –On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
- 1983 –Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
- 1992 –Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.
Who were born on May 17?
- 1913 –Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver (d. 2007)
- 1941 –Ben Nelson. 40th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska
- 1951 –Simon Hughes, British politician
- 1964 –Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer
- 1966 –Danny Manning, American basketball player
- 1978 –Carlos Peña, Dominican baseball player
- 1982 –Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
- 1983 –Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
- 1984 –Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
- 1994 –Julie Anne San Jose, Filipina child actress and singer
Who died on May 17?
- 1626 –Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
- 1727 –Empress Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
- 1765 –Alexis Claude de Clairaut, French mathematician (b. 1713)
- 1822 –Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
- 1879 –Asa Packer, American railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
- 1927 –Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
- 1947 –Zhang Lingfu, a general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1903)
- 1963 –John Wilce, American physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)
- 2005 –Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
- 2006 –Captain Nichola Goddard, Canadian soldier (b. 1980)
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