Born on May 17
May 17 birthdays & history
If you were born on May 17, you share a birthday with Edward Jenner, Enya and Henri Barbusse. May 17 babies are Taurus, with emerald as their birthstone and the lily of the valley as their birth flower. May 17 is the 138th day of the year in leap years (137th in other years).
Famous people born on May 17
- 1749Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist
- 1961Enya, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1873Henri Barbusse, French author and journalist
- 1866Erik Satie, French pianist and composer
- 1886Alfonso XIII, Spanish monarch
- 1936Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
- 1956Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host
- 1955Bill Paxton, American actor and director
- 1971Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Dutch royal
- 1897Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
What happened on May 17
- 1590Anne of Denmark was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
- 1805Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
- 1814The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
- 1859Members of the Melbourne Football Club codify the first rules of Australian rules football.
- 1863Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
- 1865The International Telecommunication Union, which standardizes and regulates international radio and telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris.
- 1875Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75).
- 1890The opera Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, premieres at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, beginning the verismo period in Italian opera.
- 1900The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.
- 1914Under the Protocol of Corfu, the Principality of Albania officially recognized Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region.
- 1915The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.
- 1939The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
Also observed on May 17
- Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
- Children's Day (Norway)
- Constitution Day (Nauru)
- Constitution Day (Norway)
- Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
- International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
Questions, answered
What star sign is May 17?
People born on May 17 are Taurus. Their birthstone is emerald and their birth flower is the lily of the valley.
Which famous people were born on May 17?
Edward Jenner (1749), Enya (1961), Henri Barbusse (1873), Erik Satie (1866), Alfonso XIII (1886), Dennis Hopper (1936) were all born on May 17.
What happened on May 17 in history?
Among other things: in 1914, Under the Protocol of Corfu, the Principality of Albania officially recognized Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region; in 1915, The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls; in 1939, The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
Can I get a newspaper front page from May 17?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any May 17 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “May 17”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.