| 56671 | May.17 | Death | 1951 – William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, Indian-English field marshal (b. 1865) |
| 56672 | May.17 | Death | 1960 – Jules Supervielle, Uruguayan-French poet and author (b. 1884) |
| 56673 | May.17 | Death | 1963 – Daniel Mendaille, French actor (b. 1885) |
| 56674 | May.17 | Death | 1963 – John Wilce, American football player, coach, and physician (b. 1888) |
| 56675 | May.17 | Death | 1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895) |
| 56676 | May.17 | Death | 1966 – Randolph Turpin, English boxer (b. 1928) |
| 56677 | May.17 | Death | 1974 – Ernest Nash, German-American photographer and scholar (b. 1898) |
| 56678 | May.17 | Death | 1977 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral and pilot (b. 1892) |
| 56679 | May.17 | Death | 1980 – Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1918) |
| 56680 | May.17 | Death | 1985 – Abe Burrows, American director, composer, and author (b. 1910) |
| 56681 | May.17 | Death | 1986 – Lyudmila Pakhomova, Russian ice dancer (b. 1946) |
| 56682 | May.17 | Death | 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898) |
| 56683 | May.17 | Death | 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (b. 1903) |
| 56684 | May.17 | Death | 1995 – Toe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912) |
| 56685 | May.17 | Death | 1996 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (b. 1959) |
| 56686 | May.17 | Death | 1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1966) |
| 56687 | May.17 | Death | 1996 – Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American singer and guitarist (b. 1935) |
| 56688 | May.17 | Death | 1997 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist and academic (b. 1905) |
| 56689 | May.17 | Death | 1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian trumpet player and producer (b. 1949) |
| 56690 | May.17 | Death | 1999 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess player (b. 1966) |
| 56691 | May.17 | Death | 2000 – Donald Coggan, English archbishop (b. 1909) |
| 56692 | May.17 | Death | 2001 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (b. 1928) |
| 56693 | May.17 | Death | 2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (b. 1908) |
| 56694 | May.17 | Death | 2002 – Dave Berg, American soldier and cartoonist (b. 1920) |
| 56695 | May.17 | Death | 2002 – László Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1927) |
| 56696 | May.17 | Death | 2002 – Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Turkish poet and composer (b. 1940) |
| 56697 | May.17 | Death | 2002 – Sharon Sheeley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1940) |
| 56698 | May.17 | Death | 2003 – Pop Ivy, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1916) |
| 56699 | May.17 | Death | 2004 – Gunnar Graps, Estonian singer (Magnetic Band and Gunnar Graps Group) (b. 1951) |
| 56700 | May.17 | Death | 2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish poet and painter (b. 1920) |