Today in history

On May 17, 1792, the New York Stock Exchange had its beginnings as a group of brokers met under a tree on Wall Street and signed the Buttonwood Agreement.

In 1510, early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli died in Florence, Italy; he was probably in his mid 60s.

In 1536, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn invalid after she failed to produce a male heir; Boleyn, already condemned for high treason, was executed two days later.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman seized control of the nation’s railroads, delaying — but not preventing — a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.

In 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. (“Megan’s Law,” as it’s known, was named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994.)

In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter ended a historic visit to Cuba sharply at odds with the Bush administration over how to deal with Fidel Castro, saying limits on tourism and trade often hurt Americans more than Cubans.

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.

Ten years ago: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that young people serving life prison terms should have “a meaningful opportunity to obtain release” provided they didn’t kill their victims.

Five years ago: A shootout erupted between bikers and police outside a restaurant in Waco, Texas, leaving nine of the bikers dead and 20 people injured.

One year ago: With a score of 128 after the second round of the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka (KEHP’-kuh) achieved the lowest 36-hole score in major championship history, and the largest lead (seven shots) of anyone at the halfway point of a Grand Slam event in 85 years. (Koepka would win the event for a second straight year.) Taiwan’s legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage, making Taiwan the first place in Asia with a law that allowed and spelled out the terms of same-sex marriage. The owners of the pet known as Grumpy Cat, an internet sensation because of her sourpuss expression, announced on social media that the feline had died at her Arizona home at the age of seven.