Famous people born on May 17 — and what else happened that day
If your birthday is May 17, you share it with Sugar Ray Leonard, Bob Saget, Tony Parker — and you were born under Taurus, the sign of the steady, loyal, and a lover of life’s comforts.
Birthday basics for May 17
Taurus ♉
Zodiac sign
Emerald
Birthstone
Lily of the Valley
Birth flower
137th
Day of the year
May 17 is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years), with 228 days still to come.
Famous people born on May 17
Sugar Ray Leonard — World boxing champion across five weight classes (born 1956).
Bob Saget — Comedian and beloved star of Full House (born 1956).
Tony Parker — Four-time NBA champion point guard for the San Antonio Spurs (born 1982).
Also sharing the day:
Erik Satie (b. 1866) — French composer of the dreamy piano piece "Gymnopédie No. 1."
Dennis Hopper (b. 1936) — American actor and director of the counterculture classic Easy Rider.
Enya (b. 1961) — Irish singer whose ethereal songs like "Orinoco Flow" sold over 75 million records.
May 17 in history
1792 — The New York Stock Exchange was founded under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street.
1954 — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
1875 — The first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs.
1902 — Archaeologist Valerios Stais spotted the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek geared device often called the first computer.
1939 — Columbia and Princeton played baseball in the first televised sporting event in the United States.
1990 — The World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its classification of diseases.
May 17 birthday questions
What zodiac sign is May 17?
Anyone born on May 17 is a Taurus — steady, loyal, and a lover of life’s comforts.
What is the birthstone for May 17?
The birthstone for a May 17 birthday is Emerald, and the birth flower is the Lily of the Valley.
Who is the most famous person born on May 17?
Sugar Ray Leonard is among the best known — World boxing champion across five weight classes (born 1956).
What happened on May 17?
In 1792, The New York Stock Exchange was founded under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street.
What day of the year is May 17?
May 17 is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years), with 228 days still to come.
Make their day unforgettable
Know someone born on May 17? See the full story of their exact birthday — the headlines, the #1 song, what things cost — and turn it into a personalized front-page newspaper they can keep.