About May 17

May 17, 2025 is the 137th 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.

You can browse the full year calendar in case you need it.

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Taurus is the sun 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.

What Happened On May 17

  • 1536
    George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
  • 1642
    Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
  • 1673
    Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
  • 1775
    American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.
  • 1792
    The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
  • 1809
    Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
  • 1865
    The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
  • 1869
    Imperial Japanese forces defeat the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Battle of Hakodate to end the Boshin War.
  • 1933
    Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
  • 1940
    World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
  • 1943
    The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
  • 1943
    World War II: the Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.
  • 1967
    Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
  • 1973
    Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
  • 1980
    General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
  • 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
    The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 2004
    Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

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