Template:On this day - May 17

Gabriel Císcar

• 822 – In the Emirate of Córdoba (present-day Spain), after the death of Al-Hakam I, Abd al-Rahman II begins his reign, during which the people of Córdoba adopted the fashions of Baghdad, introduced by the musician of Iraqi origin Ziryab.
• 1410 – Martin I of Aragon revokes the appointment as lieutenant and governor general of the Crown he had granted to his nephew James II of Urgell.
• 1520 – In Spain, Charles I signs a Royal Decree recognizing Diego Columbus's titles of admiral and viceroy of the Indies (the present-day American continent).
• 1579 – The Catholic provinces of Flanders are reconciled with Philip II of Spain by the signing of the Treaty of Arras.
• 1643 – Birth of Juan de Sevilla Romero, Spanish painter (d. 1695).
• 1769 – Birth of Gabriel Císcar, Spanish mathematician, naval officer and politician (d. 1829).
• 1814 – In the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the squadron of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, under the command of Admiral William Brown, defeats a Spanish flotilla in the battle of Montevideo, closing the Naval Campaign of 1814 and thus deciding the surrender of that city. For this reason Argentine Navy Day is commemorated.
• 1819 – Death of La Perricholi (Micaela Villegas), Peruvian singer, businesswoman and stage actress (b. 1748).
• 1833 – Birth of Manuel Murguía, Spanish historian and writer (d. 1923).
• 1834 – In Spain, Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, the Carlist pretender to the throne, returns from exile.
• 1856 – In Spain, Queen Isabella II creates the Order of Beneficence, as a civil decoration, to reward the individuals who, between 1854 and 1855, cared for the sick affected by Asiatic cholera.
• 1886 – Birth of Alfonso XIII, King of Spain.
• 1902 – In Spain, Alfonso XIII comes of age, swears the Constitution and begins his reign, which marks the end of his mother's regency.
• 1912 – In El Salvador, by legislative decree, the coat of arms and the flag are legally adopted as national symbols.
• 1935 – In Spain, the Republican government appoints General Francisco Franco Chief of the General Staff.
• 1936 – The Bolivian colonel David Toro forms a military government that replaces the one headed by Tejada Sorzano.
• 1937 – In Valencia (Spain), in the course of the civil war, Juan Negrín is proclaimed the new Head of Government of the Republic.
• 1946 – In Cuba, the peasant leader Niceto Pérez is murdered; on that anniversary the Agrarian Reform Law will be enacted in 1959, the ANAP founded in 1961, and the Order of 17 May decoration created in 1989.
• 1950 – Death of Eduardo Fabini, Uruguayan composer of classical music (b. 1882).
• 1952 – In the Dominican Republic, Héctor Trujillo is elected president.
• 1958 – In Spain, Francisco Franco promulgates before the Cortes the Fundamental Law of Principles of the National Movement.
• 1965 – In Bolivia, the military junta declares a state of siege after the riots caused by the exile of Juan Lechín Oquendo, leader of the tin miners.
• 1972 – Death of José Asunción Flores, Paraguayan composer, creator of the guarania (b. 1904).
• 1980 – In Peru, after 12 years of military rule and while democratic elections were being held, the terrorist group Shining Path begins its armed struggle with an attack on the polling station of the Ayacucho village of Chuschi.
• 1982 – In Alba de Tormes (Spain), the self-styled «Pope Clement» and eight of his bishops flee to avoid being lynched by Catholic fanatics during a religious ceremony in honor of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
• 1992 – In Vatican City, Pope John Paul II beatifies Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei.
• 1993 – The Ministers of Culture of the European Union declare the Way of Saint James European cultural heritage.
• 2005 – In Los Angeles (California) the Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, son of Mexican immigrants, becomes the first Hispanic mayor of that city since the United States annexation.