Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on May 17th?

The NY Stock Exchange is born with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by 24 stockbrokers defining how stocks could be traded and establishing set commissions.

Norway's Constitution Day - Also known as Syttende Mai (May 17), is celebrated annually  to commemorate the signing of Norway's constitution in 1814. This event marked Norway's declaration of independence from Denmark and the beginning of its path toward sovereignty. The day is celebrated with parades, traditional clothing, and festive food. More

Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, presented the first color photograph at the Royal Institution. He and photographer Thomas Sutton created the image of a tartan ribbon by taking three separate black and white photographs through red, green, and blue filters and then combining them. This method, based on Maxwell's earlier work, demonstrated that any color could be created by mixing the three primary colors of light. More

The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. More

The US Senate Watergate Committee begins to investigate the burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., which was a major event in the 1972 Presidential campaign. The hearings, chaired by Senators Sam Ervin and Howard Baker, were a key part of the investigation into the Watergate scandal. The investigations led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. More

“Megan's Law" is signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton requiring that law-enforcement officials notify local schools, day-care centers, and residents of the presence of registered sex offenders in their communities. The law is named for seven-year-old Megan Kanka, who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a violent predator previously convicted of a sex offense against a child in New Jersey in 1994. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, the predator was living across the street before he abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered Megan. More