Daily Calendar for Sunday, May 17, 2026

Daily Calendar

View daily calendar information including holidays, advice, and daily features.

Sandro Botticelli (artist; works include the painting Birth of Venus”“) – 1510
John Jay (first Chief Justice of the U.S.) – 1829
John Deere (American manufacturer) – 1886
Lawrence Welk (musician) – 1992
Joe Black (baseball player) – 2002
Tony Randall (actor; well known for his role as Felix Unger on the sitcom The Odd Couple) – 2004
Frank Gorshin (actor best known for role as the Riddler on the Batman television series) – 2005
Donna Summer (singer; Queen of Disco”“) – 2012

Joliet-Marquette Mississippi River expedition began – 1673
The New York Stock Exchange established at Merchants Coffee House, New York City – 1792
Fire began that destroyed part of St. Louis, Missouri – 1849
Fire destroyed a large area of riverfront in St. Louis, Missouri – 1849
First Kentucky Derby held – 1875
District of Alaska created – 1884
Clifton Fadiman hosted the NBC Blue network quiz show Information Please – 1938
First coin-operated mailbox, the Mailomat, installed – 1939
First U.S. cross-country helicopter flight ended – 1942
U.S. Supreme Court issued Brown v. Board of Education decision, ruling that segregated schools are unconstitutional – 1954
Senate Watergate Committee began public hearings – 1973
Massachusetts became the first state to process marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples – 2004
A team of rocketeers led by a Bloomington, MN, man claimed success in their goal of launching the first amateur rocket into space, sending a 21-foot rocket named GoFast an estimated 70 miles above the Nevada desert – 2004
Peter Phillips, son of British Princess Anne, wed Canadian Autumn Kelly – 2008
Allan Ganz honored for 67-year career (and counting) as ice-cream man – 2014
Brian Richmond, of Brunswick, Georgia, caught a 9-lb 6.24-oz queen triggerfish, toppling the previous record of 7-lb 0.58-oz, set by Ryan Simons of Richmond Hill, Georgia, on April 7, 2024. – 2024

A hard frost covered southern New England – 1794
Portland, Maine, had 4.12 inches of rain in 12 hours – 1916
The worst May blizzard in seven years hit Denver, Colorado – 1957
Temperatures dipped to a mere 12 degrees F at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii – 1979