February 17

2024 Calendar

February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining until the end of the year (318 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

197 – Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle)
306 - Theodore of Amasea, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
364 – Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332)
1339 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria
1371 - Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian religious reformer (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)
1609 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
1652 - Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)
1673 – Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)
1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)
1768 - Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician (b. 1691)
1827 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss educator and reformer (b. 1746)
1848 - George W. Campbell, Scottish-born 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1769)
1854 – John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)
1856 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
1883 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1855)
1883 – Napoleon Coste, French guitarist, composer (b. 1806)
1890 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)
1891 - Theophil Hansen, Danish-Austrian educator and architect (b. 1813)

1901 – 2000

1901 - Ethelbert Nevin, American pianist and composer (b. 1862)
1905 - William Bickerton, English-American religious leader (b. 1815)
1909 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
1912 - Edgar Evans, Welsh navy officer (b. 1876)
1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
1924 - Oskar Merikanto, Finnish composer (b. 1868)
1934 – King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)
1939 - Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)
1943 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)
1943 – Armand J. Piron, American jazz musician (b. 1888)
1946 - Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
1961 - Nita Noldi, American actress (b. 1894)
1962 - Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
1962 – Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876)
1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (b. 1888)
1970 - Alfred Newman, American movie composer (b. 1900)
1982 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
1982 – Lee Strasberg, American acting teacher, actor (b. 1901)
1986 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1895)
1988 - Karpoori Thakur, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
1988 - John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
1989 - Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
1990 - Jean-Marc Bolvin, French mountaineer (b. 1951)
1994 - Gretchen Fraser, American ski racer (b. 1919)
1994 – Randy Shilts, writer, AIDS activist (b. 1951)
1998 – Ernst Jünger, militaristic German writer (b. 1895)

From 2001

2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948)
2004 – José López Portillo, former President of Mexico (b. 1920)
2005 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish movie actor (b. 1919)
2005 – Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
2007 – Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910)
2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American singer and actress (b. 1922)
2011 – Perry Moore, American writer and movie producer (b. 1971)
2012 - Ulric Neisser, German-born American psychologist (b. 1928)
2013 - Richard Briers, British actor (b. 1934)
2013 - Mindy McCready, American country music singer (b. 1975)
2014 - Frankie Kao, Taiwanese singer (b. 1950)
2014 - Loni Nest, German-American actress (b. 1915)
2014 - Joe Bell, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1923)
2015 - Andrzej Koszewski, Polish composer (b. 1922)
2015 - Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)
2016 - Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923)
2016 - Alexander Gutman, Russian film director (b. 1945)
2016 - Akbar Kakkattil, Indian writer (b. 1954)
2016 - Andrzej Zulawski, Polish film director and writer (b. 1940)
2017 - Nicole Bass, American bodybuilder and professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2017 - Warren Frost, American actor (b. 1925)
2017 - Börge Hellström, Swedish writer (b. 1957)
2017 - Erland Kops, Danish badminton player (b. 1937)
2017 - Robert H. Michel, American politician (b. 1923)
2017 - Michael Novak, American theologian and writer (b. 1933)
2017 - Tom Regan, American philosopher (b. 1938)
2017 - Peter Skellern, English singer-songwriter (b. 1947)

Births

Up to 1800

624 - Wu Zetian, Chinese Empress of the Zhou Dynasty (d. 705)
1192 - Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
1490 - Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
1519 – Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (d. 1563)
1524 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574)
1581 - Fausto Poli, Italian cardinal (d. 1653)
1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713)
1699 – Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Prussian soldier, painter and architect (d. 1753)
1718 - Matthew Tilgh, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790)
1723 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1762)
1740 - John Sullivan, American general, politician and Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795)
1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831)
1754 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803)
1781 – René Laennec, French physician (d. 1826)
1782 – Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, Russian aristocrat (d. 1846)
1792 - Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (d. 1876)
1796 – Giovanni Pacini, Italian opera composer (d. 1867)
1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1886)

1801 – 1900

1817 - Edouard Thilges, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
1820 - Elzear-Alexandre Taschereau, French cardinal (d. 1898)
1820 - Henri Vieutemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881)
1821 – Lola Montez, Irish dancer (d. 1861)
1836 - Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)
1848 - Louisa Lawson, Australian writer and feminist (d. 1920)
1848 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner (d. 1920)
1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902)
1861 – Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (d. 1922)
1862 – Mori Ogai, Japanese novelist and poet (d. 1922)
1862 - Eugen Schmidt, Danish athlete (d. 1931)
1863 - Fyodor Sologub, Russian writer (d. 1927)
1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)
1866 - Henry Hollis Horton, 40th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1934)
1877 - Isidora Sekulic, Serbian writer (d. 1958)
1877 - Andre Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)
1885 – Romano Guardini, German theologian (d. 1968)
1887 - Joseph Bech, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
1888 – Otto Stern, German physicist (d. 1969)
1890 - Ronald Fisher, English statistician, biologist and geneticist (d. 1962)
1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician (d. 1965)
1892 - Marjorie Fielding, British actress (d. 1956)
1893 - Wally Pipp, American baseball player (d. 1965)
1894 - Hendrik Kramers, Dutch physicist (d. 1952)

1901 – 1950

1901 - Philotheus Boehner, German monk and medieval scholar (d. 1955)
1903 - Sadeq Hedayat, Iranian writer (d. 1951)
1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German political philosopher (d. 1980)
1908 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2005)
1908 - Jacobus van Egmond, Dutch cyclist (d. 1969)
1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)
1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and England rugby player (d. 1940)
1917 – Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher (d. 2002)
1917 – Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, Mexican inventor (d. 1965)
1918 - Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1990)
1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001)
1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated movie director (d. 2001)
1920 - Annie Glenn, American activist (d. 2020)
1923 - Buddy DeFranco, American jazz musician (d. 2014)
1923 - John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and author (d. 1988)
1923 - Alden W. Clausen, American banker (d. 2013)
1924 – Margaret Truman, American writer (d. 2008)
1925 - Hal Holbrook, American actor
1925 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor
1927 – Juan Almeida Bosque, Cuban Communist revolutionary (d. 2009)
1929 - Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean writer
1929 – Patricia Routledge, British actress
1930 – Ruth Rendell, British writer (d. 2015)
1931 - Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
1931 - Jirina Jiraskova, Czech actress (d. 2013)
1933 - Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007)
1933 - Larry Jennings, American magician (d. 1997)
1934 – Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian
1934 – Alan Bates, British actor (d. 2003)
1935 - Christina Pickles, British actress
1937 – Willi Koslowski, German footballer
1937 - Rita Süssmuth, German politician
1937 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen (d. 2014)
1939 - Clement Richard, Canadian businessman and politician
1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
1941 - Julia McKenzie, English actress and theatre director
1942 – Huey Newton, American political activist (d. 1989)
1943 - Costas Azariadis, Greek economist
1944 – Bruce Fogle, Canadian-born British veterinarian and writer
1944 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboardist and composer
1945 - Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
1946 - André Dussollier, French actor
1948 - Rick Majerus, American basketball player
1948 - Don Scardino, American television director and actor
1948 - José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer and actor
1949 - Fred Frith, English musician and composer
1949 - Dennis Green, American football coach (d. 2016)
1950 - Rickey Medlocke, American guitarist
1950 - Graham Stringer, English politician

1951 – 1975

1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
1955 - Mo Yan, Chinese novelist and Nobel Prize winner
1957 - Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, harpist and pianist
1959 - Aryeh Deri, Israeli rabbi and politician
1959 - Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer
1961 - Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist and economic historian
1961 - Panna Rittikrai, Thai actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1961 - Angela Eagle, English politician
1961 - Maria Eagle, English politician
1962 - Sarah Wollaston, English politician
1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor
1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player
1963 – Alison Hargreaves, British mountain climber (d. 1995)
1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and actor
1964 - Jim Jordan, American politician
1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
1966 - Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 – Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
1969 - Tuesday Knight, American actress
1970 - Dominic Purcell, English-Australian actor
1971 – Denise Richards, American actress
1971 - Carlos Gamarra, Paraguayan footballer
1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American lead singer of Green Day
1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American musician
1973 - Shirley Clamp, Swedish singer

From 1976

1976 - Kelly Carlson, American actress
1979 – Cara Black, Zimbabwean tennis player
1981 – Paris Hilton, American socialite and heiress
1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor
1981 - Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
1981 - Andrew Stephenson, English politician
1982 – Daniel Merriwether, Australian singer
1982 – Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian footballer
1983 - Nguyen Tien Minh, Vietnamese badminton player
1984 - AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
1984 - Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
1985 - Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
1985 – Mario Bolatti, Argentine footballer
1988 – Natascha Kampusch, Austrian kidnapping victim
1989 – Rebecca Adlington, British swimmer
1989 - Stacey McClean, British singer
1989 - Chord Overstreet, American actor
1991 – Ed Sheeran, British singer-songwriter
1991 – Bonnie Wright, British actress
1992 - Meaghan Jette Martin, American actress
1993 - Marc Marquez, Spanish racing driver
1993 - Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
1993 - Philip Wiegratz, German actor
1996 – Sasha Pieterse, South African-born American actress

Deaths

Observances

Celebrated as Independence Day in Kosovo
Revolution Day (Libya)