On May 17

Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Following the killing of two English football fans by Galatasaray supporters in the previous month, British and Turkish hooligans rioted on the day of the UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama selected by the 14th Dalai Lama, was kidnapped by the Chinese government, who advocated a proxy.

An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others.

The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated a series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 34 people and injuring almost 300 others.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.

After renegotiating a contract with the makers of her signature perfume Chanel No. 5, Coco Chanel (pictured) received a share of wartime profits from its sale, making her one of the richest women in the world.

Under the Protocol of Corfu, the Principality of Albania officially recognized Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region.

The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving geared mechanism, was discovered among artifacts retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.

The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.

The opera Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, premieres at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, beginning the verismo period in Italian opera.

The International Telecommunication Union, which standardizes and regulates international radio and telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris.

American Civil War: At the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard and captured around 1,700 men.

Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.

Edward Stafford, whose father had been beheaded for rebelling against King Richard III of England, was himself executed for treason against King Henry VIII.

An outnumbered Wallachian army repulsed invading Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rovine.