August 17th, 1688

Born on August 17th, 1688

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 122,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 324 days, exactly on May 23rd, 2025, people who were born on August 17th, 1688 will be 123,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on August 17th?

August 17th, 2009

A hydroelectric turbine at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Russia catastrophically failed, flooding the turbine hall, killing 75 people and causing widespread power outages.

August 17th, 2008

Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Summer Olympics, the most golds by any person at a single games.

August 17th, 1969

Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi coast of the United States, killing 259 people and causing $1.42 billion in damage..

August 17th, 1959

American musician Miles Davis released Kind of Blue, which became one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed jazz recordings of all time.

August 17th, 1950

Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war were massacred by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.

August 17th, 1945

Animal Farm, George Orwell's satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published.

August 17th, 1943

Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met in a highly secret military conference (pictured) held in Quebec City.

August 17th, 1916

World War I: Romania signed a secret treaty with the Entente Powers, agreeing to enter the war in return for promised territory in Austria-Hungary.

August 17th, 1915

A category 4 hurricane made landfall in Galveston, Texas, leaving at least 275 people dead and causing $50 million in damage.

August 17th, 1914

World War I: Ignoring orders to retreat, Hermann von François led a successful counterattack defending East Prussia at the Battle of Stallupönen and scored the first German victory in the Eastern Front.

August 17th, 1907

Pike Place Market , one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the U.S. and a popular tourist attraction, opened in Seattle, Washington.

August 17th, 1676

Scanian War: Swedish forces defeated Danish troops at the Battle of Halmstad.

August 17th, 1424

Hundred Years' War: Allied English and Burgundian forces gained a strategically important victory at the bloody Battle of Verneuil in Normandy, France.

August 17th, 0986

Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: The Bulgarians defeated Byzantine forces at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan near present-day Ihtiman, with Emperor Basil II barely escaping.

August 17th, 2017

Barcelona attacks: A van is driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.

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

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

45

Vibeke Stene

Gothic metal soprano singer, ex female vocals of Tristania

*August 17th, 1978, Sokndal

80

Robert De Niro

American actor (born 1943)

*August 17th, 1943, Greenwich Village

20

The Kid Laroi

Australian rapper and singer (born 2003)

*August 17th, 2003, Waterloo

54

Markus Gisdol

German association football player and manager

*August 17th, 1969, Geislingen an der Steige

85

Carl Ausfeld

German judge (1814–1900)

*August 17th, 1814, Schnepfenthal †January 22nd, 1900, Siebleben

89

Jean-Jacques Sempé

French cartoon artist

*August 17th, 1932, Bordeaux †August 11th, 2022, Ampus

77

Judi Rollick

Badminton player

*August 17th, 1944, Seattle †April 5th, 2022

36

Bendik Brænne

Norwegian musician

*August 17th, 1987, Bærum Municipality

63

Pierre de Fermat

French mathematician and lawyer

*August 17th, 1601, Beaumont-de-Lomagne †January 12th, 1665, Castres

37

Marcus Berg

Swedish association football player

*August 17th, 1986, Torsby

87

Mona Andersson

Swedish actress

*August 17th, 1936, Örgryte församling

76

Anders Hatlo

Norwegian actor and film director

*August 17th, 1947, Larvik

76

Robert von Mohl

German legal scholar and politician (1799–1875)

*August 17th, 1799, Stuttgart †November 4th, 1875, Berlin

46

Natasza Urbańska

Polish actress and singer

*August 17th, 1977, Warsaw

70

Herta Müller

German-Romanian novelist, poet and essayist

*August 17th, 1953, Nițchidorf

69

Ingrid Daubechies

Belgian physicist and mathematician

*August 17th, 1954, Houthalen-Helchteren

45

Mehdi Baala

French middle-distance runner

*August 17th, 1978, Strasbourg

96

Jiang Zemin

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002

*August 17th, 1926, Yangzhou †November 30th, 2022, Shanghai

63

Sean Penn

American actor and filmmaker (born 1960)

*August 17th, 1960, Santa Monica

74

Julian Fellowes

English actor, dramatist, director, novelist, producer and screenwriter

*August 17th, 1949, Cairo

Same year
Born in 1688

51

Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia

King of Prussia

*August 14th, 1688, Berlin †May 31st, 1740, City Palace

56

Alexander Pope

English poet (1688–1744)

*May 21st, 1688, City of London †May 30th, 1744, Twickenham

75

Pierre de Marivaux

French novelist and dramatist (1688-1763)

*February 4th, 1688, Paris †February 11th, 1763, Paris

84

Emmanuel Swedenborg

Swedish 18th century scientist and theologian

*January 29th, 1688, Stockholm †March 29th, 1772, London

58

Nader Shah

Shah of Iran (r. 1736–47) and founder of the Afsharid dynasty

*October 22nd, 1688, Dargaz †June 19th, 1747, Quchan

80

Joseph-Nicolas Delisle

French astronomer

*April 4th, 1688, Paris †September 11th, 1768, Paris

61

Nicolas Fréret

French historian (1688-1749)

*February 15th, 1688, Paris †March 8th, 1749

88

Cadwallader Colden

Lieutenant governor, acting governor of the Province of New York (1688-1776)

*February 7th, 1688, Duns †September 28th, 1776, Flushing

70

Johann Friedrich Fasch

German violinist and composer

*April 15th, 1688, Buttelstedt †December 5th, 1758, Zerbst

59

Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach

*April 19th, 1688, Weimar †January 19th, 1748, Eisenach

54

Julius Bernhard von Rohr

(1688-1742) German theological writer

*March 28th, 1688, Elsterwerda †April 18th, 1742, Leipzig

25

Maria Luisa of Savoy

Queen consort of Spain (1688-1714)

*September 17th, 1688, Turin †February 14th, 1714, Madrid

53

Ulrika Eleonora I of Sweden

Queen regnant of Sweden from 1718 to 1720

*January 23rd, 1688, Stockholm †November 24th, 1741, Stockholm

65

Gao Xiang

Chinese artist (1688-1753)

*January 1st, 1688, Jiangdu District †January 1st, 1753

77

James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales

Pretender to the English, Scottish and Irish throne

*June 10th, 1688, St James's Palace †January 1st, 1766, Rome

77

Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Dutch princess (1688-1765)

*February 7th, 1688, Kassel †April 9th, 1765, Leeuwarden

66

Giuseppe Livizzani Mulazzani

Italian cardinal (1688-1754)

*March 20th, 1688, Modena †March 20th, 1754, Rome

69

Augustin Simnacher

Organ builder

*January 27th, 1688, Irsingen †October 24th, 1757, Brixen

66

Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Elder

French line-engraver (1688-1754)

*April 29th, 1688, Paris †July 5th, 1754, Paris

55

Johann Ulrich von König

German writer (1688-1744)

*October 6th, 1688, Esslingen am Neckar †March 14th, 1744, Dresden

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on August 17th

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

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

Yes: 1688 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
August 1688