April 17th, 1859

Born on April 17th, 1859

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 60,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 717 days, exactly on April 21st, 2026, people who were born on April 17th, 1859 will be 61,000 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

73

Edward Jakobowski

British composer

*April 17th, 1856, London †April 29th, 1929, London

87

Alain Poher

French politician (1909-1996)

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

65

Sean Bean

English actor

*April 17th, 1959, Handsworth

67

Nick Hornby

English novelist

*April 17th, 1957, Redhill

61

Roddy Piper

Canadian professional wrestler (1954-2015)

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

82

David Bradley

British actor

*April 17th, 1942, York

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

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

75

J. P. Morgan

American financier, banker, and art collector (1837–1913)

*April 17th, 1837, Hartford †March 31st, 1913, Rome

37

Medhi Benatia

Moroccan and French footballer

*April 17th, 1987, Courcouronnes

52

Jennifer Garner

American actress

*April 17th, 1972, Houston

50

Victoria Beckham

English businesswoman, fashion designer and singer

*April 17th, 1974, Harlow

77

Karen Blixen

Danish writer

*April 17th, 1885, Rungstedlund †September 7th, 1962, Rungstedlund

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

32

Jasper Stuyven

Belgian cyclist

*April 17th, 1992, Leuven

81

Ernst Kapff

German writer, archaeologist and translator (1863-1944)

*April 17th, 1863, St. Gallen †December 26th, 1944, Göppingen

54

Pascale Arbillot

French actress

*April 17th, 1970, France

Same year
Born in 1859

75

Paul Herrmann

German classical archaeologist

*December 14th, 1859, Halle (Saale) †August 30th, 1935, Dresden

46

Pierre Curie

French physicist (1859-1906)

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

71

Arthur Conan Doyle

British writer and physician (1859–1930)

*May 22nd, 1859, Edinburgh †July 7th, 1930, Crowborough

31

Kathinka Hedwig Agerskov

Danish painter

*August 8th, 1859, Flensburg †November 23rd, 1890, Frederiksberg

81

Henri Bergson

French philosopher (1859–1941)

*October 18th, 1859, Paris †January 4th, 1941, Paris

82

Wilhelm II

German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 to 1918

*January 27th, 1859, Kronprinzenpalais †June 4th, 1941, Huis Doorn

57

L. L. Zamenhof

Polish-Jewish pysician and inventor of Esperanto (1859-1917)

*December 15th, 1859, Białystok †April 14th, 1917, Warsaw

92

Knut Hamsun

Norwegian novelist (1859–1952)

*August 4th, 1859, Vågå †February 19th, 1952, Grimstad

31

Georges Seurat

French painter (1859-1891)

*December 2nd, 1859, Paris †March 29th, 1891, Paris

92

John Dewey

American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer (1859–1952)

*October 20th, 1859, Burlington †June 1st, 1952, New York City

73

Kenneth Grahame

British novelist

*March 8th, 1859, Edinburgh †July 6th, 1932, Berkshire

65

Victor Herbert

American composer

*February 1st, 1859, Dublin †May 26th, 1924, New York City

70

Anton Aicher

Austrian theatre director

*April 5th, 1859, Feldbach †February 5th, 1930, Salzburg

79

Edmund Husserl

German philosopher, known as the father of phenomenology (*1859 – †1938)

*April 8th, 1859, Prostějov †April 27th, 1938, Freiburg im Breisgau

75

Alfred Dreyfus

French artillery officer (1859–1935)

*October 9th, 1859, Mulhouse †July 12th, 1935, Paris

60

Reginald De Koven

American music critic and composer

*April 3rd, 1859, Middletown †January 16th, 1920

96

Johan Frans van Bemmelen

Dutch zoologist and paleontologist (1859–1956)

*December 26th, 1859, Groningen †August 6th, 1956, Leiden

68

Jerome K. Jerome

English humorist (1859-1927)

*May 2nd, 1859, Walsall †June 14th, 1927, Northampton

57

Sholem Aleichem

Jewish writer and playwright of Yiddish, who worked in Ukraine and the United States (1859-1916)

*February 18th, 1859, Pereiaslav †May 13th, 1916, New York City

86

Gerhard Heilmann

Danish artist and paleontologist (1859-1946)

*June 25th, 1859, Skælskør †March 26th, 1946, Copenhagen

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 1859 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
April 1859