Learn Our History Today: May 17

Learn Our History:

On May 17, 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded by 24 stockbrokers who were meeting under a buttonwood tree near what is today 68 Wall Street. Little did these 24 men know that their small company would grow to be the world’s largest stock exchange, with an average daily trading value of over 150 million US dollars.

In Addition, on May 17, 1863, the Battle of Big Black River Bridge was fought during the Civil War as part of the Vicksburg Campaign. On the morning of May 17, Union Major General John A. McClernand, with three divisions of the Union’s 13^th corps, encountered Confederate troops, under the command of Brigadier General John S. Bowen, who were entrenched behind cotton bales near the Big Black River Bridge. The Union men were soon forced to take cover due to rebel artillery fire. Soon, however, Union Brigadier General Michael K. Lawler formed his brigade, and surged out of a meander scar, strait into the Confederate breastworks. The confederates in the breastworks quickly panicked and began to flee across the Big Black River, but not before burning the bridges across it. In all, the battle was a complete disaster for the Confederates, who lost around 200 men killed or wounded, and 1,800 captured. In contrast, the Union lost a mere 273 total casualties. This battle essentially sealed Vicksburg’s fate: the Confederates were bottled up.

Also, on May 17, 1875, the first ever Kentucky Derby was run, at a distance of 1 ½ miles, which in the future would be changed to the current distance of 1 ¼ mile. Only 3 horses competed in the first derby, in front of a crowd of around 10,000 people, with a colt named Aristides winning the race.

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