Major Events From This day in History May 17th

 

1936 U.S.A. New Deal

1936 : A number of proposals are being looked at to finance " The New Deal " program including a flat tax on all corporate income, and also an increase in the normal income tax rate from 4% to 5%.

1946 U.S.A. Railroads Seized By Truman

1946 : President Harry S. Truman uses U.S. troops to seize control of US railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.

1943 Germany Dam Busters Raid

1943 : Lancaster bombers use the revolutionary bomb designed to bounce on the water to bypass dam defenses ( immortalized in a 1954 war film Dambusters ) . The bombs were invented for the task by aircraft engineer Dr Barnes Wallis with pilots flying the Lancaster bombers just 100 ft above the water. The destruction of the dams two on the rivers Möhne and Sorpe, and a third on the River Eder caused flood waters to sweep through the Ruhr valley, damaging factories, houses and power stations.

1875 U.S.A. First Kentucky Derby

1875 : In front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the First Kentucky Derby in 1875 at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky.

1955 U.S.A. End Segregation

1955 : The Chief Justice Earl Warren has indicated that a ruling will be made by the Supreme Court before summer recess on how and when to end segregation of white and black children in the public school system.

1954 U.S.A. Brown v. Board of Education

1954 : The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education , ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. The case centered on Linda Brown an African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.

1925 Germany Mining Disaster Dortsfeld

1925 : A major mine disaster in Dortsfeld in Germany has now claimed the lives of 43 men, rescue attempts are still continuing but are hampered by the deadly gasses in the mines with rescue workers collapsing from the fumes in the narrow passageways.

1948 Israel Statehood

1948 : Following the formation of the Jewish State of Israel , Russia has now extended recognition of the Hebrew state and 4000 Arab fighters have surrendered in the old walled city of Acre weakened by a major outbreak of Typhoid.

1960 France East - West Summit

1960 : The East-West summit in Paris has failed before it even started following three days of bitter arguments over the American U2 spy plane shot down two weeks ago over Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union by a Russian Missile.

1969 U.S.A. Apollo 10

1969 : The Apollo 10 is all go for the final test before America lands a man on the moon later this year. Apollo 10 is scheduled to go over the landing site where Apollo 11 hopes to land later this year, this flight is a complete dress rehearsal as everything will be done except the final phase of landing man on the moon.

1973 U.S.A. Watergate

1973 : The investigation of Watergate by the Senate begins televised hearings on the Watergate scandal.

1974 Car Bombs In Dublin

1974 : Three car bombs are exploded in Dublin, killing 23 and injuring 100 more during rush hour. No one has ever been charged with these bombings but a number of conspiracy theories exist.

1974 U.S.A. Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)

1974 : In Los Angeles, California, LAPD place a siege on the home in Compton where the leaders of the terrorist group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) are hiding out.When SLA members shoot at the police surrounding the home the LAPD shot an estimated 1,200 rounds of ammunition and throw teargas containers into the Compton home leaving six SLA members dead, including the leader Donald DeFreeze.

1980 Rioting Liberty City, Miami

1980 : Following the death of Arthur McDuffie from multiple skull fractures caused by a blunt object during his arrest by 4 Miami police officers on December 17th, 1979 a trial of the officers led to a not guilty verdict on 17th May. After the verdict approximately 5,000 people attended a protest at the downtown Metro Justice Building, but the protest turned into a riot and three people are killed and at least 23 injured during the first night of violence. During the next few days a total of 18 people are killed with 100's of others injured and law and order is resumed when a curfew is implemented from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. together with 3,000 National Guardsmen deployed on the streets.

1984 U.S.A. Chemical Weapons

1984 : President Reagan has again been denied by the house in his continued requests for the manufacturer of Chemical Weapons, this is the third time his request has been denied by the house.

1987 Persian Golf USS Stark Attacked

1987 : An Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter carries an attack using two Exocet anti-ship missiles on the U.S. Navy warship Stark in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 American sailors. Iraq and the United States called the attack a mistake.

1996 U.S.A. Megan's Law

1996 : President Bill Clinton signed a measure strengthening the ( 42 U.S.C. § 13701 passed in 1995 )law over neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. Megan's Law is the informal name for authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed on July 29th 1994.

2000 U.S.A. 1963 Church Bombing Arrests

2000 : Two former Ku Klux Klansmen (Thomas E. Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry) were arrested on murder charges for the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four black girls, they were later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

2004 U.S.A. First Same Sex Marriage Performed

2004 : First Same Sex Marriage Performed at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts, between Marcia Kadish, 56, and Tanya McCloskey, 52, of Malden, Massachusetts, making them the first legally married same-sex partners in the United States.

2007 Trains Travel Between North and South Korea

2007 : Two trains, one from North Korea and one from South Korea, both carrying 150 passengers, became the first trains to pass between the two countries since the Korean War. The border crossing train journeys remained largely symbolic of hope for future cooperation between the two countries.

2008 Spain Arrests Hackers

2008 : Spanish police announced that they had arrested five prominent hackers. The hackers, including two sixteen-year-olds, were implicated in hacking government websites in Asia, Latin America, and the United States, as well as over 20,000 other websites.

2010 United States Heavy Metal Singer Dies

2010 : Ronnie James Dio, an American heavy metal singer, died at the age of sixty-seven of stomach cancer. Dio had been a member of many different bands, including Rainbow, but most notably replaced Ozzie Osbourne as the singer in Black Sabbath in the 1980s.

2011 500 Illegal Immigrants Found in Trucks

2011 : In what police described as the biggest rescue operation to help illegal immigrants, over five hundred migrants travelling through Mexico, bound for the United States, were discovered crammed into two trucks. The conditions were described as inhumane with a lack of air and no water. The immigrants were discovered in the state of Chiapas in Southern Mexico, and were found by x-ray equipment at a checkpoint. Of the total five hundred and thirteen migrants, thirty two of them were women and four were children.

2012 United States Singer Donna Summer Dies

2012 : Disco queen, singer, Donna Summer who had reportedly been battling cancer died at the age of sixty-three. The artist had won five Grammys and was nominated for twelve more and had influence dance music and many artists throughout her career.

2013 Dylan Joins US Arts Academy

2013 : Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was inducted as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Dylan was unable to attend the event but had stated he was honored and lucky to receive the membership.

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