April 17th, 1556

Born on April 17th, 1556

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 170,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 54 days, exactly on June 22nd, 2024, people who were born on April 17th, 1556 will be 171,000 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

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

87

Alain Poher

French politician (1909-1996)

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

61

Roddy Piper

Canadian professional wrestler (1954-2015)

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

37

Medhi Benatia

Moroccan and French footballer

*April 17th, 1987, Courcouronnes

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

67

Erasmus Schmidt

German philologist and mathematician

*April 17th, 1570, Delitzsch †September 22nd, 1637, Lutherstadt Wittenberg

43

Chris Thompson

British long-distance runner

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

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

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

54

Pascale Arbillot

French actress

*April 17th, 1970, France

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

Same year
Born in 1556

86

Sophia Brahe

Danish horticulturalist

*September 22nd, 1556, Knutstorp Castle †January 1st, 1643, Helsingør

43

Jerzy Radziwiłł

Catholic cardinal

*May 31st, 1556, Lukiškės †January 21st, 1600, Rome

69

Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana

Mughal court poet and minister (1556–1627)

*December 17th, 1556, Lahore †October 1st, 1626, Agra

83

Jeanne de Lestonnac

French saint

*December 27th, 1556, Bordeaux †February 2nd, 1640, Bordeaux

52

Philipp Nicolai

German Lutheran pastor, hymnwriter

*August 10th, 1556, Bad Arolsen †October 2nd, 1608, Hamburg

25

Alexander Briant

Jesuit martyr

*August 17th, 1556, Somerset †December 1st, 1581, Tyburn

70

Ahmad Baba al Massufi

Malian academic (1556-1627)

*October 26th, 1556, Araouane †April 22nd, 1627, Timbuktu

69

François Béroalde de Verville

French writer

*April 27th, 1556, Paris †January 1st, 1626, Tours

37

Andreas von Auersperg

Carniolan noble and military commander in the battle of Sisak

*April 9th, 1556, Žužemberk †September 5th, 1593, Karlovac

49

Nyaungyan Min

King of Burma

*March 6th, 1556, Bago †March 3rd, 1606, Hsipaw

60

Countess Maria of Nassau

Countess of Nassau (1556-1616)

*February 7th, 1556, Breda †October 10th, 1616, Buren

91

Joseph Calasanz

Spanish writer and saint

*September 11th, 1556, Peralta de la Sal †August 25th, 1648, Rome

65

Aurelio Lomi

Italian painter (1556-1622)

*February 29th, 1556, Pisa †January 1st, 1622, Pisa

59

Sethus Calvisius

German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer, and teacher

*February 21st, 1556, Gorsleben †November 24th, 1615, Leipzig

67

Uesugi Kagekatsu

Daimyo during the Sengoku and Edo periods

*January 8th, 1556, Echigo Province †April 19th, 1623, Yonezawa

29

Kunigunde Jakobäa of Simmern

(1556-1586)

*October 9th, 1556, Simmern †January 26th, 1586, Dillenburg

57

Matthaeus Entzlin

German university teacher (1556-1613)

*May 16th, 1556, Stuttgart †November 22nd, 1613, Bad Urach

40

George Peele

English poet and dramatist (1556-1596)

*January 1st, 1556, London †November 7th, 1596, London

65

Guillaume du Vair

French bishop

*March 7th, 1556, Paris †August 3rd, 1621, Tonneins

61

David Hoeschel

Librarian (1556-1617)

*April 8th, 1556, Augsburg †October 19th, 1617, Augsburg

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

Yes: 1556 is a leap year, therefore has a 29th of February with an additional leap day and a total of 366 days (instead of the usual 365 days in a normal year).

Calendar
April 1556