Birthdays & Historical Events – May 17

1876

1876

The 7th US Cavalry under General George Armstrong Custer leaves Fort Lincoln that would end at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

The 7th Calvary (700 troopers and Native Scouts) entered Montana and Dakota Territory and made contact with Indians the next day on June 23, 1876. On June 24, Custer's Arikara and Osage scouts identified a party of Sioux shadowing their movements. According to the scouts, the Sioux party retreated. That night, Custer gave his plans to attack the Sioux party the next day. Not knowing combined forces were the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, Custer miscalculated the size of the party for the attack. The regiment was defeated and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was killed.

May 17, 1876

1877

1877

Edwin T. Holmes installs the first telephone switchboard burglar alarm.

The alarm was originally patented by Reverend Augustus Russell Pope (1819–1858) in 1853. Edwin Holmes acquired Pope's patent rights in 1857 for US $1500. He manufactured the device in his factory in Boston, Massachusetts. He began selling the alarm in 1858 but people were fearful of and skeptical about using electricity for alarms. By 1866, Holmes installed 1,200 home alarms and began successful marketing among business enterprises.

May 17, 1877

1897

1897

John Philip Holland launches the first successful submarine that can run submerged for a long distance and combines electric and gasoline engines.

The vessel was 53 feet 10 inches long, displaced 65 tons on the surface (75 submerged), and operated with a crew of six. The U.S. Navy purchased the vessel on April 11, 1900, and commissioned it as the USS Holland (SS-1) on October 12, 1900.

May 17, 1897

1932

1932

Congress changes name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".

The 1932 Act: The Act of May 17, 1932, mandated that all federal laws, records, and documents change "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico". The name change was a 30-year push for cultural recognition.

May 17, 1932

1944

1944

General Dwight Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5.

After delays due to weather, General Dwight Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for Normandy landings by 175,000 service members. Known as the "Order of the Day," Eisenhower described the invasion as the "Great Crusade". Though the decision was finalized on June 5, the massive assault occurred on June 6, 1944.

May 17, 1944

1954

1954

The Supreme Court outlaws racial segregation in public schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools violates the 14th Amendment. The decision declared that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine from 1896.

May 17, 1954

1993

1993

Intel unveils the new Pentium processor.

Intel officially introduced the Pentium processor, featuring 3.1 million transistors and 60-66 MHz speeds. The processor was was five times more powerful than the i486 and introduced superscalar architecture to the x86 family for improved performance. Although successful, the chip later suffered from the infamous FDIV bug in 1994.

May 17, 1993

2004

2004

Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples could not be denied the legal, social, and financial benefits of marriage. The first legal same-sex marriage licenses were issued on May 17, 2004, with many couples marrying in Cambridge.

May 17, 2004

2009

2009

Minecraft is released to the public while still in development.

The early access of the game allowed the developers to build a massive community and iterate on feedback over two years before the official, formal launch. The official game was released on November 18, 2011.

May 17, 2009