17 May - Today in History - Important historical events happened on this day in India and World History
According to Gregory calendar, on May 17, the day number in a year is 137 and if it is a leap year then the day number is 138. May 17 has a special significance in India and world history, because many such incidents have occurred on this day which have been recorded forever in the pages of history. Let's know some such important events which will increase your general knowledge. The facts collected will be as follows: People born on this day, demise of famous people, war treaty, freedom of any country, invention of new technologies, change of power, important National and International Day etc.
May 17 in History - Top Historical Events
| Year | Event / Incidence / Incident |
| 1498 | The Bharatiya Janata Party got an absolute majority in the 16th Lok Sabha election. The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party with 282 seats in the 16th Lok Sabha election. |
| 1521 | English nobleman Edward Stafford, whose father had beenbeheaded for rebelling against King Richard III, was himself executedfor treason against King Henry VIII. |
| 1590 | Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen consort of Scotland in theabbey church at Holyrood Palace. |
| 1642 | The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded a permanentmission known as Ville-Marie, whicheventually grew into the city of Montreal. |
| 1742 | Battle of Chutzitz: Frederick II and Persia defeated the Ostries. |
| 1744 | French King Louis XV declared war on Britain. |
| 1756 | Portugal's famous investigative sailor Vasco da Gama first arrived near Calicut. |
| 1782 | The Parliament of Great Britain passed the repeal of the Act to secure the dependence of the Ireland Act. |
| 1792 | Twenty-four stock brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement toestablish the New York Stock Exchange. |
| 1792 | From the beginning of the New York Stock Exchange, the Buttonwood Agreement was signed. |
| 1814 | The Constitution of Norway was signed and Christian Frederick was elected the new King of Norway by the Constituent Assembly of Norway. |
| 1857 | Britain declares war against France. |
| 1863 | Rosalía de Castro published Cantares gallegos, a collection of her poetry, the first book in the Galician language. |
| 1865 | The International Telecommunication Union, an internationalorganization that standardizes and regulates international radio andtelecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union inParis. |
| 1865 | Bahadur Shah was declared the second Mughal emperor. |
| 1865 | International Telegraph Union was established. |
| 1884 | Alaska was merged into an American territory. |
| 1900 | Three Chinese villages within 100 miles of Peking were burned by Boxers in China, killing 60 Chinese and Christian citizens. |
| 1902 | The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving gearedmechanism, was discovered among artifacts retrieved from a shipwreck offthe Greek island of Antikythera. |
| 1909 | The first Giro d \ tallia bicycle race began in the city of Milan, with Luigi Sugarcane winning. |
| 1914 | Albania officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as anautonomous region with in the Albanian state, which was never established due to World War I. |
| 1933 | Norwegian fascist party Nasjonal Samling was founded on May 17, 1933 by Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort. It made a huge impact on Norwegian politics despite the fact that it never achieved more than 2.5% of the votes and finally dissolved in 1945. |
| 1954 | The US Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal'. |
| 1970 | Celebration of World Communication Day began. |
| 1973 | The Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities began televised hearing on Watergate scandal on May 17, 1973 in Washington D.C. |
| 1974 | The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated four car bombs on May 17, 1974 in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, killing 33 civilians and injuring 300. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in the Republic’s history. |
| 1975 | Thor Hairdal began the journey from Morocco on this day and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 57 days. |
| 1976 | The bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killed 28 people. |
| 1978 | Japanese lady Mrs. Junko Taibei became the first woman to climb Mount Everest. |
| 1980 | South Korean Army General Chun Doo-hwan expanded martial law across country on May 17, 1980 and seized control of government. He later became the President of South Korea on 1st September 1980. |
| 1980 | On the eve of the Peruvian general election, the Maoistguerrilla group Shining Path attacked a polling location in the town ofChuschi, Ayacucho, starting the internal conflict in Peru. |
| 1983 | May 17 agreement was signed by the United States, Israel and Lebanon in 1983 to create peace between Lebanon and Israel. This agreement turned as a failure because it faced strong opposition from Lebanese Muslims and it was assumed as an imposed surrender. |
| 1983 | The stolen coffin of famous comedian Charlie Chaplin was discovered. Charlie died in Switzerland in 1977 and is buried near Lake Geneva. But two thieves stole his coffin and demanded four lakh pounds in exchange for it. |
| 1990 | The General Assembly of the World Health Organization removed Homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases on May 17, 1990. India is one of those countries where homosexuality is illegal. |
| 1994 | First multi party Malawian General Elections were held on May 17, 1994. Malawi Congress Party was defeated by the United Democratic Front, winning both the elections for President and the National Assembly and thus ended 30 year rule of the MCP. |
| 1995 | After 18 years as Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac wasinaugurated as President of France. |
| 2004 | Massachusetts became the first US state to issue same-sex marriage licence on May 17, 2004. Massachusetts is the sixth place in the world to legalize same-sex marriage after the Netherland, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. |
| 2004 | Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sexmarriage. |
| 2004 | Massachusetts became the first US state to legalize gay marriage. |
| 2007 | Trains from North Korea and South Korea crossed the 38th Parallel in a test run on 17th May with the permission from both governments. This was the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953. |
| 2009 | Dalia Grybauskaite was elected the first female President ofLithuania, receiving 68.18 percent of the vote. |
| 2010 | A peace treaty was signed between Israel and Lebanon. |
| 2013 | Indian boxers won all six gold medals of the Commonwealth Boxing Championship. |
| 2014 | The right-wing Hindu Nationalist Party, the BJP, won the general election in India on May 17, 2014 with 336 seats out of 543 seats. It was the first time it has achieved a majority in the Lok Sabha without any alliance. |
Famous Birthdays of May 17:
| Year | Name / Profession / Country |
| 1956 | Bob Saget / Actor / United States of America |
| 1965 | Jeremy Vine / Author / United Kingdom |
| 1873 | Henri Barbusse / Journalist / France |
| 1971 | Mark Connors / Rugby Player / Australia |
| 1873 | Dorothy Richardson / Author / United Kingdom |
| 1985 | Christine Nesbitt / Speed Skater / Canada |
| 1950 | Howard Ashman / Composer / United States of America |
| 1989 | Mose Masoe / Rugby Player / New Zealand |
| 1794 | Anna Brownell Jameson / Author / United Kingdom |
| 1937 | Hazel R. O'Leary / Politician / United States of America |
| 1961 | Justin King / Business Man / United Kingdom |
| 1954 | Michael Roberts / Jockey / South Africa |
| 1962 | Rosalind Picard / Scientist / United States of America |
| 1836 | Virginie Loveling / Poet / Belgium |
| 1990 | Guido Pella / Tennis Player / Argentina |
| 1863 | Léon Gérin / Lawyer / Canada |
| 1990 | Fabian Giefer / Footballer / Germany |
| 1923 | Michael Beetham / Pilot / United Kingdom |
| 1919 | Merle Miller / Author / United States of America |
| 1866 | Erik Satie / Painist / France |
| 1955 | David Townsend / Writer / United States of America |
| 1946 | Udo Lindenberg / Singer / Germany |
| 1973 | Josh Homme / Writer / United States of America |
| 1889 | Dorothy Gibson / Actress / United States of America |
| 1950 | Alan Johnson / Politician / United Kingdom |
| 1982 | Dan Hardy / Martial Artist / United Kingdom |
| 1932 | Peter Burge / Cricketer / Australia |
| 1551 | Martin Delrio / Occultist / Belgium |
| 1874 | George Sheldon / Diver / United States of America |
| 1929 | Branko Zebec / Footballer / Yugoslavia |
The day in other months: January 17 | February 17 | March 17 | April 17 | May 17 | June 17 | July 17 | August 17 | September 17 | October 17 | November 17 | December 17
