1. On May 17, 1900, President William McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act into law, which established gold as the only standard for redeeming paper currency.

2. May 17, 1954, marked a watershed moment in American civil rights history, as the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, ruling that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

3. In 1975, President Gerald Ford declared May 17 as National Defense Transportation Day, recognizing the crucial role of transportation in national security and defense.

4. May 17, 1987, saw the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring the more than 58,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

5. On May 17, 2004, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.