A closer look at key historic events that took place on May 17:
In 1990 WHO takes homosexuality off its list of mental diseases
14 years later, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same sex marriage.

In 1972 Germany ratifies the Treaty of Warsaw

Officially known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, the treaty was a mutual defense pact signed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries, including East Germany. It aimed to establish a military alliance among the signatory states and served as a response to the formation of NATO.

Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

In 1954, school segregation is outlawed by U.S. Supreme Court

In a landmark victory decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school segregation ruling it unconstitutional, overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine established by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896.

Integrated students at Anacostia High School September 10, 1957, three years after the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Bolling v. Sharpe case that outlawed school segregation in the District of Columbia.
Photo by Warren K. Leffler. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

In 1939, the first sporting event in the United States is televised
The event was a collegiate baseball game between Princeton and Columbia Universities and was aired on NBC.

Columbia University Athletics. https://gocolumbialions.com/news/2019/5/16/general-columbia-celebrates-80th-anniversary-of-first-live-televised-sporting-event-in-united-states.aspx

In 1900, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published
The success of the children’s book led to the even more successful 1939 film adaptation.

The title page of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as The Wizard of Oz, a 1900 children’s novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. 1900. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

In 1792, the “Buttonwood Agreement” is signed

This marked the founding moment of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The agreement was named after the buttonwood tree under which traders gathered to conduct business in New York City.

Wall St. east from Nassau St., New York City. J155945 U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright by Irving Underhill. No. C-8101.

– Don’t miss out on To Vima’s daily “On this Day in History” posts.