Births on May 17

Bill Paxton

Born on May 17, 1955

Bill Paxton, American actor and director (d. 2017)

William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker, and musician. He appeared in films such as Weird Science (1985), Near Dark (1987), Aliens (1986), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997).

Paxton starred in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), for which he earned three Golden Globe Award nominations during the show's run. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for portraying Randall McCoy in the History channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012).

References

Bill Paxton

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Events on 1955

7 Jan

Metropolitan Opera
Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.
13 Feb

Dead Sea Scrolls
Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
18 Feb

Nevada Test Site
Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
14 May

Warsaw Pact
Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
23 Oct

State of Vietnam referendum, 1955
Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm defeats former emperor Bảo Đại in a referendum and founds the Republic of Vietnam.

Births on May 17

Bill Paxton

Born on May 17, 1955

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1955

Metropolitan Opera

Dead Sea Scrolls

Nevada Test Site

Warsaw Pact

State of Vietnam referendum, 1955