Event:
African leaders meet in Paris to discuss ways to fight Boko Haram, the Islamist group that kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls over a month ago in Nigeria; the country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has been seen as slow to respond to the situation
More Notable Events on May 17:
1983 Israel and Lebanon sign a peace treaty
1970 Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on reed raft
1948 Soviet Union recognized Israel
1884 Alaska becomes a U.S. territory
1883 Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st wild west show premieres in Omaha