May 17 in Pop Culture History

May 17 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

May 17 History Highlights

  • 1756 – Seven Years’ War formally began when Great Britain declared war on France.
  • 1900 – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, was first published in the United States.
  • 1954 – The US Supreme Court declared a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
  • 2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the US were performed in the state of Massachusetts.
  • If you were born on May 17th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… August 24th (prior year)

L. Frank Baum Oz Book Checklist

1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
3. Ozma of Oz (1907)
4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
5. The Road to Oz (1909)
6. The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
8. Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
9. The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
10. Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
11. The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
12. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
13. The Magic of Oz (1919)
14. Glinda of Oz (1920)

May 17 is…

Cherry Cobbler Day
Pack Rat Day
World Telecommunications Day

May 17 Birthday Quotes

Slow down and self-edit and ask yourself the three things you must always ask yourself before you say anything: “Does this need to be said?” “Does this need to be said by me?” “Does this need to be said by me now?”
– Craig Ferguson

“As with anything creative, change is inevitable.”
– Enya

“You have to know you can win. You have to think you can win. You have to feel you can win.”
– Sugar Ray Leonard

“It’s nice to be immortal. Film has given us immortality.”
– Maureen O’Sullivan

“If you have something to say, then say it. Express yourself and break the rules.”
– Trent Reznor

May 17 Birthdays

1889 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (died in 1946)
1911 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (died in 1998)
1942 – Taj Mahal, American blues singer-songwriter and musician
1955 – Bill Paxton, American character actor (died in 2017)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 – Bob Saget, American comedic actor and television host
1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian comic book illustrator and author
1961 – Enya, Irish singer-songwriter
1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer-songwriter
1985 – Derek Hough, American actor and dancer
1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress

May 17 History

1536 – The annulment of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage.

1792 – The New York Stock Exchange was formed.

1875 – Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby.

1890 – Comic Cuts, the first British weekly comic paper, was published in London by Alfred Northcliffe.

1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers played in the United States’ first televised sporting (baseball) event.

1952 #1 Hit May 17, 1952 – June 20, 1952: Leroy Anderson – Blue Tango

1954 – The US Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities was unconstitutional.

1955 – Nathan Kline, appeared before the U.S. Congress to explain his work with Reserpine, an early antihypertensive/ antipsychotic psychopharmacology drug.

1958 #1 Hit May 17, 1958 – June 13, 1958: The Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream

1965 – Written in 1955, the FBI Laboratory, after a formal investigation that began in 1964, declared the lyrics of Louie Louie to be officially ‘Unintelligible at any speed.’

1970 – Thor Heyerdahl and a multinational crew set out from Morocco across the Atlantic Ocean in Ra II in 57 days.

1973 – Televised hearings regarding the Watergate Scandal begin in the United States Senate.

1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Jose, California.

1986 #1 Hit May 17, 1986 – June 6, 1986: Whitney Houston – Greatest Love of All

1995 – Shawn Nelson (August 21, 1959 – May 17, 1995) stole an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.

2000 – The final episode of Beverly Hills 90210 aired on FOX.

2014 #1 Hit May 17, 2014 – June 6, 2014: John Legend – All of Me

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Someone was probably using the phrase, “like it’s going out of style” like it was going out of style when it was going out of style.

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him how to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime” – Anne Isabella Ritchie #shesaiditfirst

Most of us have a nicer phone than the richest man in the world did five years ago.

Approximately 107 Billion people are believed to have lived on Earth.

Along with the prospect of life on other planets, there must be an equal possibility of new herbs and spices that could be used in cooking.

I’ll consider my life a success if I never drop my phone in the toilet.

“I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.” #songlyrics

Baked beans are actually not baked, but stewed.

“Be excellent to each other, and… party on, dudes! – Abraham Lincoln #moviequotes

The song “happy birthday” doesn’t have any verbs.

Cyd Charisse – Real Name: Tula Ellice Finklea

“I’m doing what I’ve always done. Learning from the mistakes of others who take my advice.” – Nitya Prakash

More Pop Culture History Resources

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