April 17th, 1491

Born on April 17th, 1491

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 194,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 317 days, exactly on March 8th, 2025, people who were born on April 17th, 1491 will be 195,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on April 17th?

April 17th, 2014

NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, the first exoplanet with a radius similar to Earth's discovered in the habitable zone of another star.

April 17th, 1986

Having supposedly been at war for 335 years without a single shot having been fired and no casualties incurred, the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace.

April 17th, 1984

Metropolitan Police officer Yvonne Fletcher was shot and killed while on duty during a protest outside the Libyan embassy in London, resulting in an 11-day police siege of the building and a breakdown of Libya–United Kingdom relations.

April 17th, 1975

The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the capital of the Khmer Republic, ending the Cambodian Civil War and establishing the socialist state of Democratic Kampuchea.

April 17th, 1973

George Lucas began writing a 13-page film treatment that later formed the basis of Star Wars.

April 17th, 1969

Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

April 17th, 1951

The Peak District was designated the first national park in the United Kingdom.

April 17th, 1907

Minas Geraes (pictured), the first of three Brazilian dreadnought battleships, was laid down, sparking a vastly expensive South American naval arms race with Argentina and Chile.

April 17th, 1809

Napoleonic Wars: After a three-day chase, the French ship D'Hautpoul was captured off Puerto Rico by a British squadron under Alexander Cochrane.

April 17th, 1797

French Revolutionary Wars: British forces commanded by Lieutenant-General Ralph Abercromby invaded the Spanish colonial port of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

April 17th, 1783

The Mechanical Turk, a fraudulent chess-playing "machine" by Wolfgang von Kempelen that was secretly controlled by a hidden human, began a tour of Europe.

April 17th, 1362

Lithuanian Crusade: After a month-long siege, forces of the Teutonic Order captured and destroyed Kaunas Castle (reconstruction pictured), which was defended by troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

April 17th, 1080

Canute IV became King of Denmark upon the death of his brother Harald III.

April 17th, 2021

The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

April 17th, 2014

NASA's Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on April 17th

Same Day
Who's birthday is on April 17th?

63

Pete Shelley

British singer-songwriter (1955–2018)

*April 17th, 1955, Leigh †December 6th, 2018, Tallinn

57

Timothy Gibbs

American actor

*April 17th, 1967, Calabasas

73

Horst Hrubesch

German association football player and manager

*April 17th, 1951, Hamm

65

Sean Bean

English actor

*April 17th, 1959, Handsworth

67

Nick Hornby

English novelist

*April 17th, 1957, Redhill

87

Alain Poher

French politician (1909-1996)

*April 17th, 1909, Ablon-sur-Seine †December 9th, 1996, Paris

37

Medhi Benatia

Moroccan and French footballer

*April 17th, 1987, Courcouronnes

61

Roddy Piper

Canadian professional wrestler (1954-2015)

*April 17th, 1954, Saskatoon †July 31st, 2015, Hollywood

56

Pedro de Valdivia

Spanish conquistador, first royal governor of Chile (1497–1553)

*April 17th, 1497, Castuera †December 25th, 1553, Chile

82

David Bradley

British actor

*April 17th, 1942, York

52

Jennifer Garner

American actress

*April 17th, 1972, Houston

32

Jasper Stuyven

Belgian cyclist

*April 17th, 1992, Leuven

50

Victoria Beckham

English businesswoman, fashion designer and singer

*April 17th, 1974, Harlow

43

Chris Thompson

British long-distance runner

*April 17th, 1981, Barrow-in-Furness

54

Pascale Arbillot

French actress

*April 17th, 1970, France

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

*April 17th, 1897, Madison †December 7th, 1975, Hamden

84

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000

*April 17th, 1916, Baḷangoḍa †October 10th, 2000, Colombo

63

William Holden

American actor (1918–1981)

*April 17th, 1918, O'Fallon †November 12th, 1981, Santa Monica

83

Lagle Parek

Estonian politician

*April 17th, 1941, Pärnu

78

Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria

Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire

*April 17th, 1573, Munich †September 27th, 1651, Ingolstadt

Same year
Born in 1491

65

Jacques Cartier

Breton maritime explorer of North America (1491–1557)

*December 31st, 1491, Saint-Malo †September 1st, 1557, Saint-Malo

55

Henry VIII of England

King of England from 1509 until 1547

*June 28th, 1491, Palace of Placentia †January 28th, 1547, Palace of Whitehall

64

Ignatius of Loyola

Spanish Catholic priest and theologian (1491–1556)

*October 23rd, 1491, Holy House †July 31st, 1556, Rome

29

Zhengde Emperor

Emperor of the Ming Dynasty

*October 26th, 1491, Beijing †April 20th, 1521, Beijing

66

Francisco de Sá de Miranda

Portuguese poet (1481–1558)

*August 28th, 1491, Coimbra †November 30th, 1557, Amares

58

Innocenzo Cybo

Italian Catholic cardinal and archbishop

*August 25th, 1491, Genoa †April 13th, 1550, Rome

59

Martin Bucer

Protestant reformer

*November 11th, 1491, Sélestat †February 28th, 1551, Cambridge

94

Nicolò da Ponte

Diplomat (1491-1585)

*January 15th, 1491, Venice †July 30th, 1585, Venice

58

Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel

French nobility (1491-1549)

*March 25th, 1491, Cuffy †October 27th, 1549, Paris

75

Johannes Lening

German theologian

*February 14th, 1491, Butzbach †May 3rd, 1566, Melsungen

60

Martin Cleß

German theologian

*November 25th, 1491, Uhingen †August 13th, 1552, Stuttgart

53

Francis de Bourbon, Count of Saint-Pol

French noble

*October 6th, 1491, Ham †September 1st, 1545, Reims

53

Teofilo Folengo

Italian poet and writer

*November 8th, 1491, Mantua †December 9th, 1544, Campese

87

Andreas Imhoff

German merchant

*November 29th, 1491, Nuremberg †October 24th, 1579, Nuremberg

52

Maria of Jülich-Berg

Spouse of John III, Duke of Cleves

*August 3rd, 1491, Jülich †August 29th, 1543

43

Richard Reynolds

English Brigittine monk and Roman Catholic Martyr

*November 30th, 1491, Devon †May 4th, 1535, Tyburn

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on April 17th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on April 17th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1491 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
April 1491