1. The Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut was opened on May 17, 1796 as the state's capitol building. It was designed by Charles Bulfinch, who also designed the Massachusetts State House and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

2. On May 17, 1908, The Hartford Courant published a scathing editorial against a proposed bill that would have allowed women in Connecticut to vote in presidential elections. The editorial suggested that women were not intellectually qualified to vote and that their involvement in politics would lead to "disruption of the home."

3. On May 17, 1978, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of Horton v. Meskill, a landmark case that addressed the unequal distribution of education funding between wealthy and poor school districts in the state.

4. On May 17, 2004, the state of Connecticut became the second state in the U.S. to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples. The law granted many of the same legal rights as marriage, but was ultimately replaced by full marriage equality in 2008.

5. The first recorded baseball game in Connecticut was played on May 17, 1859. The game was between Bridgeport and New Haven and ended in a 29-10 victory for the New Haven team.