May 17th...
lessee...
1902 ? Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
1969 ? Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
1990 ? The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases. (yay!)
2004 ? Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. (more yay!)
(On a personal note, assuming dates don't get pushed back again, I should be receiving my copy of Diablo 3 on my birthday this year lol)
I share my birthday with an absolute tonne of sports stars and actors, and among others:
1443 ? Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1460)
1682 ? Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
1886 ? King Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)
1936 ? Dennis Hopper (American actor)
1941 ? Ben Nelson (40th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska)
1955 - Bill Paxton (American actor)
1956 ? Bob Saget (American actor)
1965 - Jeremy Vine (Journalist and presenter on BBC Radio 2)
1970 - Jordan Knight (lead singer of New Kids On The Block)
1975 ? Jonti Picking (creator and owner of Weebl's Stuff)
Also, a few public holidays... most notably (for me):
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia aka IDAHO