May 17

2024 Calendar

May 17 is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

290 – Emperor Wu of Jin of China (b. 236)
1189 - Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
1336 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)
1365 - Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1748)
1536 - George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
1551 - Shin Saimdang, Korean writer, artist and poet (b. 1504)
1575 – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)
1626 – Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
1643 - Giovanni Picchi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1571)
1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1683 or 1684)
1729 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)
1765 – Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713)
1809 – Leon Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
1822 – Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
1829 – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754)
1838 - René Caillié, French explorer (b. 1799)
1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish writer (b. 1757)
1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak writer (b. 1757)
1870 - David Octavius Hill, Scottish artist and photographer (b. 1802)
1875 – John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
1880 - Ziya Pasha, Ottoman writer and translator (b. 1826)
1886 - John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (b. 1804)
1888 - Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)

1901 – 2000

1911 - Frederick August Otto Schwarz, German-American businessman (b. 1836)
1916 - Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
1917 – Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
1919 – Guido von List, German occultist and writer (b. 1848)
1923 - Thomas Scott Baldwin, American balloonist and aviation pioneer (b. 1854)
1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer (b.1865)
1936 - Panagis Tsaldaris, 124th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1868)
1943 - Johanna Elberskirchen, German activist (b. 1864)
1946 – William Jefferson Blythe III, father of U.S. President Bill Clinton (b. 1918)
1947 – George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (b. 1903)
1963 - John Wilce, American football player (b. 1888)
1966 – Randy Turpin, English boxer (b. 1928)
1969 - Josef Beran, Czech cardinal (b. 1888)
1985 – Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, and writer
1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist (b. 1898)
1992 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
1995 - Joe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912)
1999 - Lembit Oll, Estonian chess player (b. 1966)
2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)

From 2001

2002 – Dave Berg, cartoonist (b. 1920)
2002 – Sharon Sheeley, songwriter (b. 1940)
2002 – Davey Boy Smith, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
2004 – Jørgen Nash, artist (b. 1920)
2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council
2005 – Frank Gorshin, actor (b. 1934)
2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American writer (b. 1924)
2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (b. 1920)
2010 – Khattiya Sawasdipol, Thai general (b. 1951)
2010 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer (b. 1925)
2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist (b. 1924)
2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)
2012 - Gideon Ezra, Israeli politician (b. 1937)
2012 – Donna Summer, American disco singer (b. 1948)
2013 - Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine military leader (b. 1925)
2013 - Alan O'Day, American singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
2013 - Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (b. 1973)
2013 - Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (b. 1930)
2014 - Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist (b. 1929)
2014 - Miss Beazley, pet dog of George W. Bush (b. 2004)
2015 - Chinx, American rapper (b. 1983)
2015 - Margaret Dunning, American philanthropist (b. 1910)
2015 - Michael Alfred Peszke, Polish-born American psychiatrist and historian (b. 1932)
2016 - Guy Clark, American folk singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
2016 - Benjamin de Roo, Dutch-Australian gymnast (b. 1940)
2017 - Viktor Gorbatko, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1934)
2017 - Roxcy Bolton, American activist (b. 1926)
2017 - Rhodri Morgan, Welsh politician, First Minister of Wales (b. 1939)
2017 - Chris Cornell, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1964)
2018 - Nicole Fontaine, French lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
2018 - Richard Pipes, Polish-American academic and political expert (b. 1923)
2018 - Mehdi Tabatabaei, Iranian politician (b. 1936)
2019 - Rallapalli, Indian actor (b. 1945)
2019 - Eduardo A. Roca, Argentine diplomat (b. 1921)
2019 - Kadavoor Sivadasan, Indian politician and trade unionist (b. 1932)
2019 - Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)

Births

1901 – 1950

1901 – Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)
1902 - Khuang Abhaiwongse, Thai politician (d. 1968)
1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player (d. 1991)
1904 – Jean Gabin, actor (d. 1976)
1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian opera soprano (d. 1989)
1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)
1911 – Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (d. 1998)
1912 - Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
1912 - Ace Parker, American football player (d. 2013)
1912 - Percy Young, British composer (d. 2004)
1913 - Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver (d. 2007)
1913 - Waldemar de Brito, Brazilian footballer (d. 1979)
1914 - Chang Ch'ung-ho, Chinese-American poet, educator and singer (d. 2015)
1917 - Boris Schnaiderman, Ukrainian-Brazilian translator, writer and essayist (d. 2016)
1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
1919 – Merle Miller, Presidential biographer (d. 1986)
1919 - Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer, actor, movie producer and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1921 - Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (d. 2003)
1921 – Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)
1922 – Antje Weisgerber, German actress (d. 2004)
1924 – Hannes Messemer, actor (d. 1991)
1925 - Michel de Certeau, French Jesuit and scholar (d. 1986)
1926 - David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer
1926 - Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian actor (d. 2014)
1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, Heaven's Gate (d. 1997)
1932 - Rodric Braithwaite, English diplomat
1932 - Miloslav Vlk, Czech cardinal (d. 2017)
1933 - Thérèse Steinmetz, Dutch singer and painter
1934 – Ronald Wayne, American Apple Inc. co-founder
1934 - Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German politician
1934 - Earl Morrall, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1935 – Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)
1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor, director (d. 2010)
1936 - Philippe Boesmans, Belgian composer
1936 - Lars Gustafsson, Swedish writer and philosopher (d. 2016)
1937 – Hazel R. O'Leary, United States Secretary of Energy
1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist
1941 – Ben Nelson, 40th Governor of Nebraska
1941 – Grace Zabriskie, American actress
1942 – Taj Mahal, American singer and guitarist
1943 - Alexander Lenkov, Russian actor (d. 2014)
1944 - Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
1944 - David Kelly, British weapons expert (d. 2003)
1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
1945 - B. S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
1948 - Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer
1948 - Winfried Kretschmann, German politician
1949 - Andrew Latimer, British musician
1949 - Bill Bruford, British drummer and songwriter
1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovene politician (d. 2008)
1950 – Alan Johnson, British politician
1950 - Howard Ashman, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1991)
1950 - Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian politician (d. 2014)

1951 – 1975

1951 – Simon Hughes, British politician
1953 - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan
1953 - Luca Prodan, Italian-Argentine singer-songwriter
1954 - Dame Patsy Reddy, 21st Governor-General of New Zealand
1954 - David Zippel, American lyricist
1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor (d. 2017)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 - Annise Parker, American politician
1956 – Bob Saget, actor (d. 2022)
1957 - Peter Hoeg, Danish writer
1958 – Paul Di'Anno, English singer
1958 - Paul Whitehouse, Welsh actor, writer and comedian
1958 - Ivor Bolton, British conductor
1959 – Jim Nantz, American broadcaster
1960 - Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor and producer
1960 - Simon Fuller, Cypriot-English talent manager and producer
1961 – Enya, Irish singer
1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer
1962 - Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor and television host
1962 – Alan Johnston, Scottish journalist
1963 - Jon Koncak, American basketball player
1963 - Taimo Toonast, Estonian opera singer
1965 – Jeremy Vine, British broadcaster
1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer, songwriter ("Nine Inch Nails")
1966 – Qusay Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein (d. 2003)
1966 - Hill Harper, American actor
1967 - Joseph M. Acaba, American astronaut
1967 - Paul D'Amour, American bass player and author
1967 - Mohamed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives
1970 - Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter
1970 - Angelica Agurbash, Belarussian singer
1970 - Jeremy Browne, English politician
1971 – Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, Queen Consort of the Netherlands
1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian rules footballer
1971 - Gina Raimondo, American politician, 75th Governor of Rhode Island
1973 - Sasha Alexander, American actress
1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
1974 – Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor
1975 – Jonti Picking, internet cartoonist
1975 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer

From 1976

1976 - Leehom Wang, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, producer and director
1978 – Paddy Kenny, Irish footballer
1979 - David Jarolim, Czech footballer
1979 - Jimmie Akesson, Swedish politician
1980 - Juan Arango, Venezuelan footballer
1980 - Dallas Taylor, American singer, songwriter and musician
1981 - Cosma Shiva Hagen, German actress
1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
1982 - Clarence Goodson, American soccer player
1982 – Chloe Smith, British politician
1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
1984 - Christine Ohuruogu, English athlete
1984 - Passenger, English singer and composer
1984 - Igor Denisov, Russian footballer
1984 - Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
1986 - Amy Gumenick, Swedish-born American actress
1986 - Bojan Jokic, Slovenian footballer
1986 - Jodie Taylor, English footballer
1987 - Evald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
1987 - Ott Lepland, Estonian singer
1988 - Nikki Reed, American actress
1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
1989 - Sarah Hargreaves, Danish-British handball player
1990 – Leven Rambin, American actress
1991 - Johanna Konta, Australian-born British tennis player
1991 - Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
1996 - Ryan Ochoa, American actor

Deaths

Observances

Constitution Day, National Day of Norway
Constitution Day (Nauru)
Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Navy Day (Argentina)
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
National Famine Memorial Day (Republic of Ireland)
World Information Society Day
Galician Literature Day