Browse events, births, deaths and holidays on May 17 throughout history.
On 17 May 2014, an Antonov An-74 transport aircraft of the Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force crashed while en route to Xiangkhouang Province, northern Laos, killing all but o…
A military plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people
Pamir Airways Flight 112 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kunduz Airport, Kunduz to Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. On 17 May 2010, the flight ope…
Pamir Airways Flight 112 crashes in Afghanistan's Shakardara District, killing 44
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and…
Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments
USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34) was one of the few Essex-class aircraft carriers completed after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the Battle of Oriskany du…
The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage or same-gender marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex or gender. As of 2025, marriage between same-sex couples…
The first legal same-sex marriages in the U
The Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.…
Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen
Laurent-Désiré Kabila usually known as Laurent Kabila or Kabila the Father, was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of th…
Troops of Laurent-Désiré Kabila march into Kinshasa
On May 17, 1995, 35-year-old Shawn Timothy Nelson stole an M60A3 tank from a local California Army National Guard armory in San Diego and drove six miles (9.7 km) through nearby n…
Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a ramp
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique t…
Malawi holds its first multi-party elections
Black May, also known as "Bloody May", was a series of mass protests and subsequent crackdowns by the Thai military and royal police in Bangkok in May 1992. A rally of over 200,00…
Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is hea…
The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseas
The Iran–Iraq War began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. After eight years of conflict, both countries accepted a ceasefire deal brokered by the United Nations, …
Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U
Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-l
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees national energy policy and energy production, the research an…
The U
Lebanon, officially the Lebanese Republic, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is b…
Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
Chun Doo-hwan was a South Korean army general who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. A member of the Democratic Justice Party, he ruled the country as…
General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress stud
Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industria…
On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town
The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida, United States, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting five white Da…
Rioting breaks out in downtown Miami, following the acquittal of four white police officers in the killing of Arthur McD
Nolan Kay Bushnell is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc., and the Chuck E. Cheese chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of …
Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E
Nolan Kay Bushnell is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc., and the Chuck E. Cheese chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of …
Nolan Bushnell opens the first Chuck E