May 15th, 1817

Born on May 15th, 1817

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 75,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 411 days, exactly on June 13th, 2025, people who were born on May 15th, 1817 will be 76,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 15th, 1817?

May 15th, 1817

Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_Hospital

What else happened on May 15th?

May 15th, 2010

Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the world.

May 15th, 2004

Arsenal became the first football team in England's top flight to finish a season undefeated since Preston North End did so in 1888–1889.

May 15th, 1990

Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for US$82.5 million, making it the world's most expensive painting at the time.

May 15th, 1972

The Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan by the United States, and the U.S. occupation government was abolished.

May 15th, 1966

Disapproving of General Tôn Thất Đính's handling of the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ ordered an attack on his forces and ousted Đính from his post.

May 15th, 1957

The United Kingdom tested its first hydrogen bomb over Malden Island in Operation Grapple.

May 15th, 1953

Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, an event for Cub Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America where wooden cars built by the scouts are raced.

May 15th, 1945

The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg repatriations.

May 15th, 1916

Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas.

May 15th, 1911

Mexican Revolution: A force of Maderistas captured Torreón and proceeded to massacre 303 of the city's Chinese residents.

May 15th, 1904

Russo-Japanese War: The Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima sank after striking several mines off Port Arthur, China.

May 15th, 1869

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, breaking away from the American Equal Rights Association which they had also previously founded.

May 15th, 1864

American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union Army out of the Shenandoah Valley.

May 15th, 1855

Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London to Folkestone, England.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 15th

Born on May 15th, 1817

87

Debendranath Tagore

Indian philosopher (1817–1905)

*May 15th, 1817, Kolkata †January 19th, 1905, Kolkata

Same Day
Who's birthday is on May 15th?

58

Martin Sonneborn

German satirist, journalist and politician

*May 15th, 1965, Göttingen

64

Andrew Eldritch

British singer

*May 15th, 1959, Ely

46

Pierre Curie

French physicist (1859-1906)

*May 15th, 1859, Paris †April 19th, 1906, Paris

62

Michael William Balfe

Irish composer

*May 15th, 1808, Dublin †October 20th, 1870, Hertfordshire

28

Victoria Williams

Badminton player

*May 15th, 1995, Sheffield

53

Mika Vainio

Finnish electronic musician

*May 15th, 1963, Helsinki †April 12th, 2017, Trouville-sur-Mer

76

Wilhelm von Opel

Member of the German Opel family

*May 15th, 1871, Rüsselsheim am Main †May 2nd, 1948, Wiesbaden

75

Hermann Wilhelm Bödeker

German pastor (1799-1875)

*May 15th, 1799, Osnabrück †January 5th, 1875, Hanover

23

Carolina Ponce

Argentinian Beach handball player

*May 15th, 2000, Ensenada

23

Caterina Benedetti

Argentinian handball player

*May 15th, 2000, Buenos Aires

81

Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs

German chemist and mineralogist (1774-1856)

*May 15th, 1774, Bavarian Forest †March 5th, 1856, Munich

60

Grete Mogensen

Badminton player

*May 15th, 1963, Skive

78

Inga Ålenius

Swedish actress (1938-2017)

*May 15th, 1938, Stockholm †April 24th, 2017, Helsingborg

33

Sannatasah Saniru

Malaysian badminton player

*May 15th, 1990, Sabah

25

Sun Feixiang

Chinese badminton player

*May 15th, 1998, Yichang

28

Yu Igarashi

Japanese badminton player

*May 15th, 1995, Yamagata Prefecture

75

Brian Eno

British musician, music producer, music theorist and visual artist (born 1948)

*May 15th, 1948, Melton

26

Ousmane Dembélé

French footballer

*May 15th, 1997, Vernon

26

Fachryza Abimanyu

Badminton player

*May 15th, 1997, Jakarta

41

Layal Abboud

Lebanese pop singer

*May 15th, 1982, Kniseh, Tyre

Same year
Born in 1817

44

Henry David Thoreau

American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)

*July 12th, 1817, Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse †May 6th, 1862, Concord

85

Theodor Mommsen

German classical scholar and historian (1817–1903)

*November 30th, 1817, Garding †November 1st, 1903, Charlottenburg

74

Baháʼu'lláh

Founder of the Bahá'í Faith

*November 12th, 1817, Tehran †May 29th, 1892, Acre

67

Frederick T. Frelinghuysen

American politician (1817-1885)

*August 4th, 1817, Millstone †May 20th, 1885, Newark

33

Miguel Lafuente Alcántara

Spanish historian

*July 10th, 1817, Archidona †August 27th, 1850, Havana

78

Frederick Douglass

African-American social reformer, writer, and abolitionist (c. 1818 – 1895)

*January 31st, 1817, Talbot County †February 20th, 1895, Washington, D.C.

70

Theodor Storm

German writer

*September 14th, 1817, Husum †July 4th, 1888, Hanerau-Hademarschen

94

Joseph Dalton Hooker

British botanist, lichenologist, and surgeon (1817–1911)

*June 30th, 1817, Halesworth †December 10th, 1911, Sunningdale

65

Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot

French general (1817-1882)

*February 24th, 1817, Nevers †August 16th, 1882, Versailles

78

Justo Arosemena Quesada

Colombian politician and writer

*August 9th, 1817, Colombia †February 23rd, 1896, Bogotá

85

Rudolf von Delbrück

Prussian statesman under Bismarck (1817-1903)

*April 16th, 1817, Berlin †February 1st, 1903, Berlin

54

Aimé Maillart

French composer

*March 24th, 1817, Montpellier †May 26th, 1871, Moulins

82

Ivan Aivazovsky

Russian marine painter (1817-1900)

*July 17th, 1817, Feodosiia †April 19th, 1900, Feodosiia

68

Jules d'Aoust

French noble and composer (1817-1886)

*March 16th, 1817, Arras †January 21st, 1886, Paris

92

Genova Thaon di Revel

Italian politician (1817-1910)

*November 20th, 1817, Genoa †September 3rd, 1910, Como

76

Charles Auguste Fraikin

Belgian curator and sculptor

*June 14th, 1817, Herentals †November 22nd, 1893, Schaerbeek

83

Ramón de Campoamor

Spanish author (1817-1901)

*September 24th, 1817, Navia †February 11th, 1901, Madrid

77

Heinrich von Sybel

German historian (1817-1895)

*December 2nd, 1817, Düsseldorf †August 1st, 1895, Marburg

55

Maria Merkert

Superior General of the Congregation of St Elizabeth

*September 21st, 1817, Nysa †November 14th, 1872, Nysa

88

Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Duke of Nassau (1839–1866), later Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1890–1905)

*July 24th, 1817, Biebrich Palace †November 17th, 1905, Lenggries

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 15th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 15th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1817 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1817