/year

May 17 in history

239 sourced entries recorded on May 17, from 352 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 528Empress Dowager Hu, regent of Northern Wei, having resorted to an old monarchist tool and executed lovers who have displeased her, is drowned in the Yellow River along with the nominal emperor, the baby Yuan Zhao, and prince Yuan Yong by order of General Erzhu Rong, who places 21-year-old Yuan Ziyou on the throne as Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei.source
  • 1102Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders (500 knights) under King Baldwin I are defeated by the Fatimid army at Ramla (modern Israel). Baldwin and his companions escape through the enemy lines to Arsuf.source
  • 1198Frederick II, infant son of the late Emperor Henry VI, is crowned King of Sicily. His mother, Queen Constance I becomes regent, while she surrounds herself with local advisors. On November 27, Constance dies in the royal palace at Palermo. She is succeeded by the new pope, Innocent III, who becomes Frederick's guardian and mentor.source
  • 1215The gates to London are opened by supporters of the rebellious Barons. The houses of Jews are targeted for ransacking and burning. The rebels, under Robert Fitzwalter, call for the English nobles still on the side of King John to join them, and repair the walls. The Tower of London, held by John's supporters, is too well defended to fall into the hands of the rebels.source
  • 1220The 12-year-old Henry III is crowned at Westminster Abbey. He is reminded of his duties as king to maintain peace, defend the rights of the English crown, and the barons swear an oath of fealty.source
  • 1223Daniel of Galicia leads a reconnaissance in force east of the Dnieper River, using a bridge of boats. He defeats a Mongol detachment, who abandons their herds and local prisoners. Following these successful sorties, the entire Russian and Polovtsian armies start a 9 day march towards the main Mongol army. Numerous carts move across the steppes, loaded with mail, heavy armour, as well as shields, protected by Russian cavalry. The Mongol forces retreat towards the Kalka River.source
  • 1226Ralph Neville is appointed as the new Lord Chancellor of England by the Great Council of Regency, regent for the Kingdom of England during the reign of King Henry III.source
  • 1302At the age of 12, Eleanor of Anjou, daughter of King Charles II of Naples, marries King Frederick III of Sicily.source
  • 1313Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, leads an invasion of the Isle of Man, landing at Ramsey with a multitude of ships and captures it within five days. The only resistance is presented by the lord of Castle Rushen, and King Robert concentrates his efforts on a siege of the castle starting on May 22.source
  • 1371The Lordship of Milan expands its holdings when Feltrino Gonzaga sells almost all of his holdings of Reggio di Lombardia to the Lords Galeazzo and Bernabo Visconti, with the exception of Novellara and Bagnolo.source
  • 1373The dukes of the various duchies of Pomerania, enter into an alliance in a meeting at Kaseburg (now Karsibor in Poland) to resist the expansion of the neighboring state of Brandenburg.source
  • 1383King John I of Castile and Leon marries Beatrice of Portugal.source
  • 1387At Caffa, one of the Balkan colonies of the Republic of Genoa, the Genoese Army thwarts an attack at Solkhat (Sorcati) by the Tatars.source
  • 1395Battle of Rovine: With the help of the Hungarians, Wallachia resists an invasion by the Ottomans and their Serb and Bulgarian vassals. But Mircea I of Wallachia has to temporarily flee to Transylvania, and Vlad I Uzurpatorul is placed on the throne by the Ottomans.source
  • 1397Callistus II Xanthopoulos becomes the new Patriarch to lead the Eastern Orthodox Church after the death of the previous Patriarch Antony IV.source
  • 1433The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel becomes the first state in the Holy Roman Empire to abolish serfdom as the Duke Heinrich der Friedfertige ("Heinrich the Peaceful") ends the fedual system there by decree.source
  • 1498Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (modern-day Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India. He finds a local Arab merchant who is able to interpret for him.source
  • 1509Venice made an effort to appease the emperor Maximilian I by offering various political and territorial concessions, but the effort failed.source
  • 1537The Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, attacking the cities of Apulia, Otranto and Brindisi, in a campaign that would last until November 22.source
  • 1537The siege by Norwegian and Danish Protestants of Steinvikholm Castle in Norway, the former residence of the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norway, ended after a month when the Catholic defenders surrendered to the Danish commander, Tord Roed.source
  • 1540Sur Empire establishedsource
  • 1540Battle of Kannauj: Sher Shah Suri defeats and deposes Mughal Emperor Humayan, establishing the Sur Empire.source
  • 1544At Lima, Blasco Núñez Vela takes office as the first Spanish Governor of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompasses most of what are now the nations of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as the western part of Brazil.source
  • 1579The Treaty of Arras is concluded between Spain (represented by the Duke of Parma), and members of the Union of Arras that had been formed in January. The Union of Utrecht continues its resistance against Spain while the County of Hainaut, the County of Artois, and the cities of Douai, Lille, Orchies and Arras agree to a separate peace under Spanish rule.source
  • 1582The Siege of Takamatsu begins as Hideyoshi attacks the forces of Shimizu Muneharu, who has twice as many soldiers. Hideyoshi orders an engineering project to block the Ashimori River and divert its waters to flood Takamatsu Castle.source
  • 1584(Tenshō 12, 8th day of the 4th month) The conflict between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu culminates in the Battle of Nagakute.source
  • 1589Ercole Grimaldi becomes the new Lord of Monaco upon the death of his older brother Charles II.source
  • 1590Anne of Denmark is crowned queen consort of Scotland, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.source
  • 1590Anne of Denmark is crowned as queen consort of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey.source
  • 1614Battle of Rohatyn: Mutinous "konfederacja" Polish troops are defeated by the Polish Army, led by General Stanisław Koniecpolski, the largest instance of Mutiny in Polish history up until that point. The mutiny originated in 1612 as a response to a failed Polish occupation of Moscow, and the unpopularity of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618) within the Sejm, which was being funded by taxation on Pole nobles, causing both criticism from parliament and mutiny among the regular army, leaving Aleksander Józef Lisowski as the lifeblood of the Polish-Lithuanian war effort during the 1612–1617 phase of the war, leading 6 divisions of outlaw mercenaries against the Russians.source
  • 1620The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey.source
  • 1629May 14–28 – Huguenot rebellions: After a 15-day siege, Louis XIII of France captures Privas.source
  • 1630Italian astronomers Niccolò Zucchi and Daniello Bartoli become the first scientists to observe the belts on the planet Jupiter.source
  • 1630The first case of plague is reported in Milan. By the end of 1631, the city of 250,000 suffers 186,000 deaths, losing almost three-quarters of its population to plague.source
  • 1632Thirty Years' War: Munich, capital of Bavaria, is captured by the Swedish army.source
  • 1642Ville-Marie (later Montreal) is founded as a permanent settlement.source
  • 1648Battle of Zusmarshausensource
  • 1649The Banbury mutiny in England ends – leaders of the Leveller mutineers in the New Model Army are hanged.source
  • 1649Banbury mutiny ends – leaders of the Leveller mutineers in the New Model Army are hanged at Burford.source
  • 1650A quarter of the New Model Army at the Siege of Clonmel in Ireland is trapped and killed.source
  • 1656In elections by the nobility of Venice for the Leader of the Venetian Republic, Francesco Cornaro defeats Bertuccio Valier. Cornaro dies less than three weeks later, on June 5.source
  • 1661Leaders of the indigenous Taiwanese villages in the plains and mountains of the Dutch-ruled island begin surrendering to the Chinese forces led by Koxinga and agreeing to hunt down and execute Dutch people on the island.source
  • 1673In America, trader Louis Joliet and Jesuit missionary-explorer Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.source
  • 1673Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette joins Louis Jolliet on his expedition to explore the northern Mississippi River.source
  • 1688The arrest of King Narai of Ayutthaya launches a coup d'état.source
  • 1688Louis-Hector de Callière, Governor of Montreal proposes to Louis XIV to invade New England by land and sea. The attack began in 1690.source
  • 1697May 17 (May 7 Old Style) – The 13th century royal Tre Kronor ("Three Crowns") castle in Stockholm burns to the ground, and a large portion of the royal library is destroyed.source
  • 1698The British Royal Navy ship HMS Hastings, a 32-gun fifth rate, is launched.source
  • 1713Ottone in villa, the first opera by composer Antonio Vivaldi, is given its initial performance, debuting at the Teatro delle Grazie in Vicenzasource
  • 1723Christopher Layer is hanged, drawn and quartered for his part in the Jacobite Atterbury Plotsource
  • 1727Peter II of Russia was made Emperor of Russia, eleven years of age.source
  • 1729Caroline, Queen Consort becomes the first person to rule Great Britain as regent under the Regency Acts, beginning service as the acting monarch when her husband King George II departs Britain for Germany, where he is the Elector of Hanover. Caroline rules until George's return in October.source
  • 1729Caroline, Queen Consort becomes the first person to rule Great Britain as regent under the Regency Acts, beginning service as the acting monarch when her husband King George II departs Britain for the Electorate of Hanover. Caroline rules until his return in October.source
  • 1733The Molasses Act receives royal assent and begins to go into effect on June 24.source
  • 1733the Molasses Act becomes law: intended to regulate the colonial molasses trade in favour of the British West Indies, it causes resentment in British North America.source
  • 1737construction of the circular Radcliffe Library at the University of Oxford begins.source
  • 1741George Watson's College opens in Edinburgh as George Watson's Hospital.source
  • 1742Battle of Chotusitz: Frederick the Great's army defeats the Austrians.source
  • 1755Spanish missionary Tomas Sanchez and three families establish a settlement on the north side of the Rio Grande in New Spain. Sanchez names it Villa de Laredo. The new settlement is the northernmost part of the colony of Nuevo Santander, founded by José de Escandón, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda, which now comprises parts of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and the U.S. state of Texas. The portion of Villa de Laredo north of the river later becomes Laredo, Texas; the remaining portion south of the river is later renamed Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.source
  • 1756The Seven Years' War formally begins, when Great Britain declares war on France.source
  • 1760Captain Giraudais's French fleet reaches the Gaspé Peninsula of northeast Quebec and captures seven British merchant ships, but Giraudais learns that the British have already preceded him up the St. Lawrence River and diverts to Chaleur Bay at Newfoundland.source
  • 1762The Exhibition of 1762 is staged by the Society of Artists of Great Britain at Pall Mall in Londonsource
  • 1774The colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations issues the first call for an "Intercolonial Congress" that eventually is set up as the Continental Congress.source
  • 1775American Revolution: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.source
  • 1776May 15–26 – American Revolution: Battle of the Cedars – British forces skirmish with the American Continental Army around Les Cèdres, Quebec.source
  • 1782The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act, a major component of the reforms collectively known as the Constitution of 1782, which restore legislative independence to the Parliament of Ireland.source
  • 1790May 17–18 – Battle of Andros: An Ottoman–Algerian fleet destroys the fleet of the Greek privateer Lambros Katsonis.source
  • 1792The Buttonwood Agreement is signed, beginning the New York Stock Exchange.source
  • 1809Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire. When he announces that the Pope's secular power has ended, the Pope excommunicates him.source
  • 1814The occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian hands.source
  • 1814The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway, by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.source
  • 1829Henrik Wergeland became a symbol of the fight for celebration of the constitution at May 17, which was later to become the Norwegian National Day. He became a public hero after the infamous "Battle of the Square" in Christiania.source
  • 1830A meteorite falls on the North Inch at Perth.source
  • 1848Erik Jørgensen, master gunsmith (died 1896)source
  • 1849The St. Louis Fire starts when a steamboat catches fire and nearly burns down the entire city.source
  • 1855Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, is dedicated (originally named as the Jews' Hospital) in New York City; it opens to patients on June 5.source
  • 1855The Mount Sinai Hospital is dedicated (as the Jews' Hospital) in New York City; it opens to patients on June 5.source
  • 1860The German association football club TSV 1860 München is founded.source
  • 1860The sports club TSV 1860 Munich is founded in the Bavarian capital of Munichsource
  • 1861A 7-day working men's package holiday to Paris, organised by Thomas Cook, sets out from London Bridge station.source
  • 1861A 7-day working men's package holiday to Paris, organised by Thomas Cook, sets out from London Bridge station.source
  • 1861Scottish-born physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography in a lecture at the Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by Thomas Sutton.source
  • 1861Scottish-born physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of three-colour photography in a lecture at the Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by Thomas Sutton.source
  • 1863The opening of Salon des Refusés in Paris draws attention to paintings by avant-garde artists, notably Manet's_ Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe.source
  • 1865French missionary Father Armand David first observes Père David's deer in Peking, China.source
  • 1865The International Telegraph Union is founded.source
  • 1867New criminal code published.source
  • 1870The turreted ironclad Gorm is launched from the Naval Dockyard in Copenhagen.source
  • 1875Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.source
  • 1876Nicolaus Otto files his patent for the four-stroke cycle internal combustion engine.source
  • 1877Victorian Football Association founded.source
  • 1882Provisional districts of the North-West Territories are established between Manitoba and British Columbia: the districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabaskasource
  • 1886Motherwell Football Club is founded in Scotland.source
  • 1893Premiere of Maurice Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Mélisandesource
  • 1894Testimony at the Banca Romana scandal trial reveals that former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti had been aware of the financial disorder at the Banca Romana in 1889 already, but had held back that information. Gioltti also allegedly received money from the bank for election purposes.source
  • 1897May 10 – 19 zinc miners die of carbon monoxide poisoning at Snaefell Mine on the Isle of Man.source
  • 1899Britain's Queen Victoria lays the foundation stone for the Victoria and Albert Museum.source
  • 1900Second Boer War: The British Army relieves the Siege of Mafeking.source
  • 1900Boxer Rebellion: Boxers destroy three villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians.source
  • 1900L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published in Chicago, the first of Baum's Oz books, chronicling the fictional Land of Oz for children.source
  • 1901José Manuel Álvarez becomes Governor of Córdoba.source
  • 1901Panic of 1901: The New York Stock Exchange crashes.source
  • 1914The Protocol of Corfu provides for the provinces of Korçë and Gjirokastër, constituting Northern Epirus, to be granted autonomy under the nominal sovereignty of Albania.source
  • 1914The Truku War broke out.source
  • 1915The last purely Liberal government in the United Kingdom ends, when the prime minister H. H. Asquith forms an all-party coalition government, the Asquith coalition ministry, effective May 25.source
  • 1915May 15–21 – The Far Eastern Championship Games take place in Shanghai.source
  • 1920The first flight of Dutch air company KLM, from Amsterdam to London, takes place.source
  • 1927U.S. Army aviation pioneer Major Harold Geiger dies in the crash of his Airco DH.4 airplane, at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1930French Prime Minister André Tardieu decides to withdraw the remaining French troops from the Rhineland (they depart by June 30).source
  • 1933Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form the Nasjonal Samling (the National Gathering Party) of Norway.source
  • 1936Following a series of general strikes, the military under Germán Busch, supported by the United Socialist Party and trade unions, overthrows the government of José Luis Tejada Sorzano and installs David Toro and president.source
  • 1936May 16–17. Left-wing intellectuals gather to participate in the Lwów Anti-Fascist Congress of Cultural Workers.source
  • 1937Divriği iron ore, the largest in Turkey was spottedsource
  • 1939The British government issues the White Paper of 1939, following the failure of the London Conference and the continued Arab revolt, which abandons the idea of partitioning, sharply restricts Jewish immigration into Palestine and places severe restrictions on the rights of Jews to buy land from Arabs.source
  • 1939The British government issues the White Paper of 1939, sharply restricting Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine.source
  • 1939King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom arrive in Quebec City, to begin the first-ever tour of Canada by Canada's monarch.source
  • 1940Zeeland is overrun by German forces, ending the Battle of the Netherlands and beginning full German occupation of the Netherlands (Noord-Beveland surrenders on May 18, and the remaining Dutch troops are withdrawn from Zeelandic Flanders on May 19).source
  • 1943May 16–17 – WWII: Operation Chastise (the 'Dambuster Raid') takes place: No. 617 Squadron RAF use bouncing bombs to breach German dams in the Ruhr Valley.source
  • 1943The Memphis Belle's crew becomes the first aircrew in the 8th Air Force to complete its 25-mission tour of duty. The aircraft and crew are the first to return to the U.S. intact for a War Bond drive.source
  • 1943The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the computer ENIAC.source
  • 1944American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, visits Northern Ireland for two days to inspect United States troops in preparation for the Normandy landings on D-Day the following month. The general arrives from RAF Burtonwood in Lancashire and lands at Greencastle Airfield in Kilkeel, County Down. He inspects troops there and in Newcastle, and observes a simulated attack in Dundrum. At Ballykinler he observes small unit training. Leaving County Down, he is driven to the Headquarters of XV Corps at Brownlow House in Lurgan, County Armagh for dinner with other senior military personnel.source
  • 1950Israeli Air Force Spitfires intercept a British Royal Air Force Short Sunderland when it inadvertently crosses into Israeli airspace, forcing it to land at Lod Airport. The Sunderland's crew have been issued maps that do not depict Israel, as Britain had not recognized the Jewish state at the time they were issued.source
  • 1950A Royal Air Force Short Sunderland is confronted by Israeli Air Force Spitfires and is forced to land at Lod Airport after it inadvertently crosses into Israeli airspace and overflies Ramat David Airbase. The Sunderland's crew had been issued maps that did not depict Israel, as Britain had only recently recognized the country.source
  • 1954Brown v. Board of Education (347 US 483 1954): The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional.source
  • 1954Adnan Menderes of the Democrat Party forms the new (21st) government of Turkey.source
  • 1954The Royal Commission on the Petrov Affair in Australia begins its inquiry.source
  • 1962Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma halts the sale of the drug Thalidomide.source
  • 1965Centenary of the International Telecommunication Union was celebrated.source
  • 1967President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt demands withdrawal of the peacekeeping UN Emergency Force in the Sinai. U.N. Secretary-General U Thant complies (May 18).source
  • 1967Luxembourg adopts the International Labour Organization's regulations on gender equality in wages.source
  • 1968The Catonsville Nine enter the Selective Service offices in Catonsville, Maryland, take dozens of selective service draft records, and burn them with napalm as a protest against the Vietnam War.source
  • 1969Venera program: Soviet space probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus's atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.source
  • 1970Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to cross the South Atlantic.source
  • 1970Thor Heyerdahl and his crew sets sail from Morocco towards Latin America aboard Ra II, a papyrus boat modeled after ancient Egyptian sailing vessels, in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean and prove his theory that the ancient Egyptians sailed to America in ancient times.source
  • 1974The Troubles: The Dublin and Monaghan bombings are carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force, when they explode four car bombs in counties Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks kill 33 civilians and wound almost 300, the highest number of casualties in any single event during the conflict.source
  • 1977The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the national elections in Israel.source
  • 1978Tor Halvor Bjørnstad, cross-country skier, biathlete and winter triathletesource
  • 1978Charlie Chaplin's coffin is found some 15 km from the cemetery from which it was stolen, near Lake Geneva.source
  • 1980Internal conflict in Peru: On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho.source
  • 1980Coup d'état of May Seventeenth: General Chun Doo-hwan forces the Cabinet to extend martial law to the whole nation.source
  • 1983Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.source
  • 1984The Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) was established.source
  • 1987Iran–Iraq War: USS Stark is hit by two Iraqi-owned Exocet AM39 air-to-surface missiles killing 37 sailors.source
  • 19871986–87 Serie A ends: SSC Napoli, under the leadership of captain Diego Maradona, wins 1st title. (→ 1986–87 SSC Napoli season)source
  • 1988May 16–18 – 1988 Gilgit massacre: A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Pakistan) is ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime.source
  • 1989May 12–25 – San Bernardino train disaster: Southern Pacific freight locomotive SP 7551 East derails in a residential area of San Bernardino, California, killing four and destroying seven houses. On May 25, as a direct result of the derailment, the Calnev Pipeline explodes, killing an additional two people and destroying eleven more houses and 21 cars.source
  • 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests: More than 1,000,000 Chinese protesters march through Beijing demanding greater democracy, leading to a crackdown.source
  • 1990The World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases.source
  • 1992May 16–17 – Bosnian War: U.N. peacekeepers withdraw from Sarajevo.source
  • 1992Protests begin in Bangkok, Thailand, against the government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon, sparking a bloody crackdown.source
  • 19951995 San Diego tank rampage: In San Diego, Shawn Nelson steals an M60A3 tank from a local California Army National Guard armory and goes on a rampage for 25 minutes, damaging over $149,201 of property. The rampage ended when San Diego police forced the hatch open and fatally shot him.source
  • 1997Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.source
  • 1997The Compagnie Grand-Ducale d'Électricité du Luxembourg is renamed 'Cegedel'.source
  • 1999Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.source
  • 2001A car bomb goes off in Parque Lleras in Medellín, killing at least seven people and injuring at least 50.source
  • 2003Slovakia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.source
  • 2004The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants enters into force.source
  • 2005The relocation of Pingtung Airport to the southern field upon the completion of the new airport building.source
  • 2006The Human Genome Project publishes the final chromosome sequence, in Nature.source
  • 2007The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate re-unite after 80 years of schism.source
  • 2009Dalia Grybauskaitė is elected as President of Lithuania in the 2009 Lithuanian presidential election.source
  • 2009Video game Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time, is first released to the public.source
  • 2009May 11–24 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope on May 11, landing at Edwards Air Force Base May 24.source
  • 2012The World Bank approves $34 million to boost food production in the agricultural and livestock sectors of the Chadian economy.source
  • 2013May 14–18 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 takes place in Malmö, Sweden, and is won by Danish entrant Emmelie de Forest with the song "Only Teardrops".source
  • 2013May 16-18: Malta participates in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.source
  • 2014May 17 Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria join to combat Boko Haram.source
  • 2014May 13–19 – 2014 Southeast Europe floods. 57 deaths in Serbia.source
  • 2019May 14–18 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is won by Dutch entrant Duncan Laurence with the song "Arcade".source
  • 2021Discovery, Inc. agrees to buy media conglomerate WarnerMedia and all of its subsidiaries from AT&T for US$43 billion. The merger is set to be complete the following year.source
  • 2025May 13–17 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is held in Basel, Switzerland. Austrian contestant JJ wins with the song "Wasted Love".source

Births

  • 1155Jien, Japanese poet and historian (died 1225)source
  • 1179Ogasawara Nagatsune, Japanese warrior (died 1247)source
  • 1443Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (died 1460)source
  • 1451Engelbert II of Nassau, Count of Nassau-Vianden and Lord of Breda (1475–1504) (died 1504)source
  • 1490Albert, Duke of Prussia, last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (died 1568)source
  • 1500Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (died 1540)source
  • 1501Stanisław of Masovia, Polish duke (died 1524)source
  • 1551Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (died 1608)source
  • 1568Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (died 1625)source
  • 1568Anna Vasa of Sweden, princess (died 1625)source
  • 1576Joam Mattheus Adami, Italian Jesuit missionary (died 1633)source
  • 1626Countess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken, sister of King Charles X of Sweden (died 1692)source
  • 1636Edward Colman, English Catholic courtier under Charles II (died 1678)source
  • 1682Bartholomew Roberts, a.k.a. Black Bart, Welsh pirate (died 1722)source
  • 1743Seth Warner American revolutionary hero (died 1784)source
  • 1749Edward Jenner, English physician (died 1823)source
  • 1768Caroline of Brunswick, queen of George IV of the United Kingdom (died 1821)source
  • 1768Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general (died 1854)source
  • 1866Erik Satie, French composer (died 1925)source
  • 1886King Alfonso XIII of Spain (died 1941)source
  • 1912Archibald Cox, American Watergate special prosecutor (died 2004)source
  • 1944Luís de Matos Monteiro da Fonseca, politiciansource

Deaths

  • 352Pope Julius I dies after a 15-year reign in which he has made himself the chief opponent of Arianism. He is succeeded by Pope Liberius as the 36th pope, who immediately writes to Constantius II requesting a council at Aquileia to discuss the former Alexandrian patriarch Athanasius, who opposes the Arian belief to which the emperor subscribes.source
  • 528Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Weisource
  • 528Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (born 526)source
  • 528Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Weisource
  • 896Liu Jianfeng, Chinese warlordsource
  • 924Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (born 856)source
  • 946Al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (born 893)source
  • 995Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies.source
  • 1000Ramwold, German Benedictine monk and abbotsource
  • 1065Egilbert (or Engelbert), bishop of Passausource
  • 1257Ch'oe Hang, Korean general and dictator (born 1209)source
  • 1264Wartislaw III, Polish nobleman and knight (born 1210)source
  • 1296Agnes of Bohemia, Duchess of Austria (born 1269)source
  • 1299Daumantas of Pskov, Lithuanian prince (born 1240)source
  • 1336Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (born 1288)source
  • 1365Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (born 1328)source
  • 1392Zhu Biao, crown prince of the Ming dynasty, China (born 1355)source
  • 1394By order of King Taejo of the Joseon dyanasty of Korea, who had taken power in 1392 by overthrowing the Goryeo dynasty, the former monarch, King Gongyang, is executed by strangulation at the prison in Samcheok, along with Crown Prince Jeongseong and the remaining survivors of the Goryeo royal family.source
  • 1395Mary of Hungary dies, ending of the reign of Hungary by the Capet-Anjou family. Her co-reigning estranged husband, King Sigismund, becomes sole ruler of Hungary.source
  • 1410At Pisa, Cardinal Baldasare Cossa is elected by members of the Council of Pisa as the successor to the "antipope" Alexander V, who had died on May 4. On May 25, Cossa takes the name "John XXIII", a name that will be used more than 500 years later in 1958 when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli is crowned as Pope John XXIII.source
  • 1464Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English politician (executed) (born 1427)source
  • 1510Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (born 1445)source
  • 1521Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason in Tower Hill.source
  • 1521Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (executed) (born 1478)source
  • 1536George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford, English diplomat (executed, with four other men accused of adultery with the queen) (born 1503)source
  • 1551Shin Saimdang, Korean artist, calligrapher and writer (born 1504)source
  • 1575Matthew Parker, English Roman Catholic archbishop (born 1504)source
  • 1592Paschal Baylon, Spanish mystic and saint (born 1540)source
  • 1606False Dmitriy I, pretender to the Russian throne (born 1582)source
  • 1606Time of Troubles in Russia: The imposter Tsar Dmitry I is assassinated in the Kremlin by supporters of Vasili Shuisky.source
  • 1607Anna d'Este, French princess (born 1531)source
  • 160717 May 17 – Anna d'Este, princess (born 1531)source
  • 1692Countess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken, cousin and foster sister of Queen Christina of Sweden and sister of King Charles X Gustav of Swedensource
  • 1702Jan Wyck, Dutch military painter (born 1645)source
  • 1711Johann Gottfried Becker, pharmacist (born 1639)source
  • 1727Empress Catherine I of Russia (born 1684)source
  • 1729Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (born 1675)source
  • 1765Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician (born 1713)source
  • 1774Jeremiah Theus, American artist (born 1716)source
  • 1807John Gunby, Maryland soldier in the American Revolutionary War (born 1745)source
  • 1829John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (born 1745)source
  • 1838Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician (born 1754)source
  • 1875John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States, Confederate States Secretary of War (born 1821)source
  • 1947George Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1869)source
  • 2010Khattiya Sawasdipol, 58, Thai army general and activist, advisor to the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (Red Shirts), shot.source
  • 2012Donna Summer, 63, American singer ("Bad Girls", "Hot Stuff", "Last Dance", "I Feel Love"), lung cancer.source