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    History in 17th May

  • Brown v. Board decided

    In the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, the United States Supreme Court declares state-sponsored segregation unconstitutional. The Brown decision overturns Plessy v. Ferguson, a 1896 Supreme Court case that permitted "separate but equal" facilities in the United States. While overriding the Supreme Court precedent, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment and stated that separate schools and facilities could never be equal. 

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  • Watergate hearings begin in the Senate

    The Senate Watergate Committee, chaired by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, begins its televised hearings. The hearings, which lasted until August 7, discovered the recording system within the White House and the Old Executive Office Building that President Richard Nixon had used while discussing the Watergate cover-up. 

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  • First Kentucky Derby

    Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby, winning the $2,850 purse. The colt, owned by H.P. McGrath, covered the 1 1/2 mile track in 2:37:75; since 1875, Churchill Downs has hosted the Kentucky Derby every year since, even as the track was shortened to 1 1/4 miles. 

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