April 17th, 1878

Born on April 17th, 1878

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 53,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 662 days, exactly on February 20th, 2026, people who were born on April 17th, 1878 will be 54,000 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

Born on April 17th, 1878

52

Albert Canet

French tennis player

*April 17th, 1878, London †July 25th, 1930, 7th arrondissement of Paris

63

Dimitrios Petrokokkinos

Greek tennis player (1878-1942)

*April 17th, 1878, Ilford †February 10th, 1942, Cape Town

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

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

77

Karen Blixen

Danish writer

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

72

Tsuneo Matsudaira

Japanese politician

*April 17th, 1877, Aizuwakamatsu †November 14th, 1949, Tokyo

67

Nick Hornby

English novelist

*April 17th, 1957, Redhill

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

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

82

David Bradley

British actor

*April 17th, 1942, York

61

Roddy Piper

Canadian professional wrestler (1954-2015)

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

67

Lionel Pape

English actor (1877-1944)

*April 17th, 1877, Brighton †October 21st, 1944, Woodland Hills

79

Leonard Woolley

British archaeologist (1880–1960)

*April 17th, 1880, Upper Clapton †February 20th, 1960, London

74

Charles Brabin

British-American film director (1882–1957)

*April 17th, 1883, Liverpool †November 3rd, 1957, Santa Monica

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

37

Medhi Benatia

Moroccan and French footballer

*April 17th, 1987, Courcouronnes

52

Jennifer Garner

American actress

*April 17th, 1972, Houston

63

William Holden

American actor (1918–1981)

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

50

Victoria Beckham

English businesswoman, fashion designer and singer

*April 17th, 1974, Harlow

90

Gebhard Müller

German politician (1900-1990)

*April 17th, 1900, Eberhardzell †August 7th, 1990, Stuttgart

Same year
Born in 1878

81

Dorothea Douglass

English tennis and badminton player

*September 3rd, 1878, Ealing †January 7th, 1960, Kensington

74

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953

*December 18th, 1878, Gori †March 5th, 1953, Kuntsevo Dacha

86

Ernst Rodenwaldt

German racial hygienist, university teacher and military physician (1878-1965)

*August 5th, 1878, Berlin †June 4th, 1965, Ruhpolding

87

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders

German politician (1878–1966)

*June 25th, 1878, Berlin †March 23rd, 1966, West Berlin

63

Walter Otto

German historian

*May 30th, 1878, Wrocław †November 1st, 1941, Munich

64

Janusz Korczak

Polish educator (1878-1942)

*July 22nd, 1878, Warsaw †August 7th, 1942, Treblinka extermination camp

89

Carl Sandburg

American writer and editor

*January 6th, 1878, Galesburg †July 22nd, 1967, Flat Rock

74

Ferenc Molnár

Hungarian-born dramatist and novelist (1878-1952)

*January 12th, 1878, Budapest †April 1st, 1952, New York City

87

Elizabeth Arden

Canadian American businesswoman

*December 31st, 1878, Woodbridge †October 18th, 1966, New York City

51

Gustav Stresemann

German politician, statesman, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1878-1929)

*May 10th, 1878, Berlin †October 3rd, 1929, Berlin

98

Eileen Gray

Irish architect and designer (1878-1976)

*August 9th, 1878, Enniscorthy †October 31st, 1976, 14th arrondissement of Paris

56

Erich Mühsam

German-Jewish anarchist writer (1878–1934)

*April 6th, 1878, Berlin †July 10th, 1934, Oranienburg concentration camp

51

Pierre Fatou

French mathematician and astronomer

*February 28th, 1878, Lorient †August 9th, 1929, Pornichet

48

Albert Corey

French long distance runner (1878-1926)

*April 16th, 1878, Meursault †August 3rd, 1926, Paris

77

Paul Renner

German type designer (1878–1959)

*August 9th, 1878, Wernigerode †April 25th, 1956, Überlingen

89

Lise Meitner

Austrian-Swedish physicist

*November 7th, 1878, Vienna †October 27th, 1968, Cambridge

87

Martin Buber

German Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian (1878–1965)

*February 8th, 1878, Vienna †June 13th, 1965, Jerusalem

74

Julia Dean

Actress (1878-1952)

*May 13th, 1878, Saint Paul †October 17th, 1952, Hollywood

45

Pancho Villa

Mexican revolutionary (1878-1923)

*June 5th, 1878, San Juan del Río, Durango †July 20th, 1923, Hidalgo del Parral

73

Owen Johnson

American novelist and short story writer

*August 27th, 1878, New York City †January 27th, 1952, Massachusetts

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 1878 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
April 1878