May
17
Independence
Day
Norway : May 17 1814
May
17 : The World Telecommunication Day
World Telecommunication
Day has been celebrated marking the founding anniversary of
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which was founded
in 1865. World Telecommunication Day is celebrated annually
on 17 May. First World Telecommunication Day was celebrated
in 1969.
The World
Telecommunication Day focuses to tone up national policies,
fill up the technological differences, promote connectivity,
foster global interoperability of systems and to curb on physical
distances globally through internet, television, phone etc.
World Telecommunications
Day is celebrated to increase awareness about the positives
of communication technology among public. It also aims to make
information and communication more accessible to people residing
in remote and rural areas.
May
17 : World Information Society Day
World Information Society Day is celebrated each year on 17
May to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on
the Information Society to build “a people-centered, inclusive
and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental
human rights.
May
17 :World AIDS Vaccine Day
World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness
Day, is observed annually on May 18. HIV vaccine advocates mark
the day by promoting the continued urgent need for a vaccine
to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. They acknowledge and thank
the thousands of volunteers, community members, health professionals,
supporters and scientists who are working together to find a
safe and effective AIDS vaccine and urge the international community
to recognize the importance of investing in new technologies
as a critical element of a comprehensive response to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic.
The concept
of World AIDS Vaccine Day is rooted in a May 18, 1997 commencement
speech at Morgan State University made by then-President Bill
Clinton. Clinton challenged the world to set new goals in the
emerging age of science and technology and develop an AIDS vaccine
within the next decade stating, “Only a truly effective, preventive
HIV vaccine can limit and eventually eliminate the threat of
AIDS.”
Events
1521 – Edward
Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
1536 – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are
executed for treason.
1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
1642 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville
Marie de Montréal.
1673 – Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the
Mississippi River.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress
bans trade with Quebec.
1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
1808 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal
States to the French Empire.
1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown
Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian
Constituent Assembly.
1849 – A large fire nearly burns St. Louis, Missouri to the
ground.
1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first
book in the Galician language.
1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International
Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
1869 – Imperial Japanese forces defeat the remnants of the Tokugawa
shogunate in the Battle of Hakodate to end the Boshin War.
1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera
mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed recognising full autonomy
to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by Herbert
Henry Asquith) falls.
1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal
Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the
United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate
baseball game in New York City.
1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1940 – World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch town of
Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender
of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
1943 – The United States Army contracts with the University
of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
1943 – World War II: the Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron
RAF on German dams.
1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous
decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands
dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into
the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before
being crushed by pressure.
1970 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus
boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United
States Senate.
1974 – Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese
Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including
Camilla Hall.
1974 – Thirty-three civilians are killed and over 300 injured
when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explodes car bombs in
Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. It is the highest
number of casualties in any one day during The Troubles. An
Irish parliament committee, and others, allege that British
security forces were involved.
1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of
the government and declares martial law in order to suppress
student demonstrations.
1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla
group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of
Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents
showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response
to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.
1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement
on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
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.
1987 – An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles
into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring
21 of her crew.
1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization
(WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric
diseases.
1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government
of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok,
leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially
confirmed deaths, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries,
and over 3,500 arrests.
1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is
officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2004 – Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize
same-sex marriage.
2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf
of Mexico as an artificial reef.
2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel
in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first
time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
Holidays
and observances
Birthday
of the Raja (Perlis)
Christian Feast Day:
Paschal Baylon
Restituta
May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Nauru)
Constitution Day (Norway)
Earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20
is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
(Western Christianity)
Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá'í Faith)
Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia aka IDAHO
Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
National Famine Memorial Day (Ireland)
Navy Day (Argentina)
World Information Society Day (International)
For details, contact Datacentre
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