0517 Today in History

May 17th, 1954 in Washington, the US Supreme Court strikes down racially segregated public schools as separate and unequal. The Court's ruling in Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka fuels America's Civil Rights movement and the eventual end of legal segregation in the United States. 1973 Also in Washington AUS Senate Committee begins public hearings to investigate the Watergate scandal. Senator Sam Irvin, Democrat from North Carolina, is in the committee chair. If the many allegations made to this day are true, then the burglars who broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate were in effect breaking into home of every citizen of the United States. The following year, the scandal forces Richard Nixon to become the 1st President to resign from office. 1792 Birth of the New York Stock Exchange as a group of brokers meets under a tree located on what is now Wall Street. And 1875 the horse Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby held at the track in Louisville, KY, that eventually becomes known as Churchill Downs. Today in history. May 17th. Ross Simpson, The Associated Press.