ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ May 17

ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~
MAY 17

What was happening on this day in modern history? Let's take a look at some of the big events, Birthdays, and anniversaries for May 17th....

1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st wild west show premieres in Omaha.
1884 - Alaska becomes a US territory.
1920 - 1st De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol.
1920 - 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij).
1921 - President Harding opens (via telephone) 1st Valencia Orange Show.
1926 - German government of Marx takes power.
1928 - 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam.
1932 - Congress changes name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".
1933 - Jimmie Rodgers begins recording a series of 24 songs. He dies nine days later at the age of 35.
1936 - Dennis Hopper, KS, actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider) is born.

1938 - Radio quiz show "Information Please!" debuts on NBC Blue Network.
1940 - Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium & begins invasion of France.
1942 - Dutch SS vows loyalty to Hitler.
1944 - General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th.
1946 - Pres Harry Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike.
1955 - Bill Paxton, actor (Brain Dead, Next of Kin, Indian Summer, True Lies) is born.
1956 - Bob Saget, Phila, comedian (Full House, America's Funniest Home Video) is born.
1956 - Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, Rocky Mount North Carolina, boxer (Olympics-gold-76) is born.
1957 - School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education.
1961 - Enya [Eithne Ní Bhraonáin], Gweedore, County Donegal, Irish singer and songwriter (A Day Without Rain) is born.

1962 - Marin County withdraws from BART district.
1967 - Dylan's 1965 UK Tour is released as film "Don't Look Back."
1970 - Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits.
1971 - Stephen Schwartz' musical "Godspell," premieres off-Broadway.
1973 - Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Love."
1975 - NBC paid $5M for rights to show "Gone with the Wind" one time.
1975 - Elton John’s "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" album is released. It is the first album to be certified a million-seller on its first day of release.

1976 - 28th Emmy Awards: Mary Tyler Moore Show, Jack Albertson & M Learned.
1984 - Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
1989 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr Gachet" auctioned for $825M.

1990 - Cheers' star Kelsey Grammer sentenced to jail for 30 days for DWI.
2002 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (Mad Magazine) (b. 1920) dies.

 

2012 - Donna Summer, American singer, dies from lung cancer at 63.