On May 17, 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was formed.
On May 17, 1954, in a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional.
On May 17, 1973, the U.S. Senate’s televised hearings into the Watergate scandal began.
On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.