This Day in History on 17th May
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 17th May. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
- World Hypertension Day
- Norwegian Constitution Day
World Information Society Day (International)
Important Events
1498: Admiral Dom Vasco-da-Gama (c.1469-1524)-I, Portuguese navigator, arrived in India. He sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, Kerala with three vessels and was the first Westerner to sail to India from Europe. (17 or 20).
1540: Sher Shah defeated Humayun for the second time at Hardoi in U.P. in the battle of Kanauj.
1775: Marathas were badly mauled in the battle of Arras by Col. Keating in the first Anglo – Maratha war.
1782: Treaty of Salbai signed on 17th May 1782
1792: Establishment of the New York Stock Exchange.
1857: Bahadhur Shah II was declared emperor of India.
1873: Hindi daily ‘Bharat Mitra’ started from Calcutta.
1949: India decided with only one dissent vote to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1976:4 Indians successfully skied down from the slope of Trishul peak.
1990: Homosexuality was removed from the list of psychiatric disorders by the World Health Organization.
1992: Import of 106 life-saving drugs and 37 types of equipment allowed.
1995: Three North Eastern States remove restricted area permits (RAP).
1999: Sonia Gandhi resigns as Congress president but the CWC(I) rejects it.
2004: The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. were performed in the state of Massachusetts.
Birthday / Anniversary
1749: Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist (d. 1823)
1865: Raobahadur Govind Sakharam Sardesai `Riyasatkar’ was born.
1868: Horace Dodge, an American automobile manufacturing pioneer, and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company.
1897: Dhirendra Varma, a famous linguist, was born.
1916: Gurusiddappa Sivappa, a great industrialist, was born at Bangalore
1927: A.N. Radhakrishnan, a great educationist, was born.
1934: Ronald Wayne, a retired American electronics industry businessman. He co-founded Apple Computer Company
1951: Pankaj Udhas, an Indian ghazal singer.
1979: Mukta Barve, an Indian television, film, and theatre actress.
Death / Death Anniversary
1510: Sandro Botticelli, an Italian painter.
1886: John Deere, an American blacksmith, and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company.
1887: Ranglal Bandopadhyay, Bengali poet, essay writer and journalist, passed away.
1913: Dwijendralal Ray, a Bengali poet, playwright, and musician.
1974: Durgadas, a famous Indian journalist, passed away.
1991: Prabhakar Machve, a great litterateur, passed away.
2007: T. K. Doraiswamy, Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
2014: C.P. Krishnan Nair, an Indian businessman who founded The Leela Group.