August 17th, 1879

Born on August 17th, 1879

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 52,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 159 days, exactly on September 25th, 2024, people who were born on August 17th, 1879 will be 53,000 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

Born on August 17th, 1879

72

Harlan Briggs

American actor (1879-1952)

*August 17th, 1879, Blissfield †January 26th, 1952, Woodland Hills

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

61

Leo Ascher

Austrian composer (1880-1942)

*August 17th, 1880, Vienna †February 25th, 1942, New York City

89

Jean-Jacques Sempé

French cartoon artist

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

54

Markus Gisdol

German association football player and manager

*August 17th, 1969, Geislingen an der Steige

20

The Kid Laroi

Australian rapper and singer (born 2003)

*August 17th, 2003, Waterloo

77

Judi Rollick

Badminton player

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

87

Mona Andersson

Swedish actress

*August 17th, 1936, Örgryte församling

36

Bendik Brænne

Norwegian musician

*August 17th, 1987, Bærum Municipality

61

Gene Stratton-Porter

American writer and naturalist (1863–1924)

*August 17th, 1863, Lagro †December 6th, 1924, Los Angeles

91

Samuel Goldwyn

Polish-American film producer (1882–1974)

*August 17th, 1882, Warsaw †January 31st, 1974, Los Angeles

76

Anders Hatlo

Norwegian actor and film director

*August 17th, 1947, Larvik

96

Jiang Zemin

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

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

37

Marcus Berg

Swedish association football player

*August 17th, 1986, Torsby

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

46

Natasza Urbańska

Polish actress and singer

*August 17th, 1977, Warsaw

74

Julian Fellowes

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

*August 17th, 1949, Cairo

63

Sean Penn

American actor and filmmaker (born 1960)

*August 17th, 1960, Santa Monica

67

Evelyn Ankers

Actress (1918-1985)

*August 17th, 1918, Valparaíso †August 29th, 1985, Maui

Same year
Born in 1879

76

Albert Einstein

German-born theoretical physicist; developer of the theory of relativity (1879–1955)

*March 14th, 1879, Ulm †April 18th, 1955, Princeton

60

Leon Trotsky

Russian Marxist revolutionary (1879–1940)

*October 26th, 1879, Bereslavka †August 21st, 1940, Coyoacán

89

Franz von Papen

German general staff officer, politician, diplomat, nobleman and Chancellor of Germany (1879–1969)

*October 29th, 1879, Werl †May 2nd, 1969, Sasbach

66

Alla Nazimova

Russian-American actress, screenwriter and producer (1879–1945)

*June 3rd, 1879, Yalta †July 13th, 1945, Los Angeles

52

Vachel Lindsay

American poet

*November 10th, 1879, Springfield †December 5th, 1931, Springfield

92

Rudolf Friml

Czech composer

*December 7th, 1879, Prague †November 12th, 1972, Hollywood

80

Max von Laue

German physicist, Nobel laureate and anti-Nazi

*October 9th, 1879, Koblenz †April 24th, 1960, West Berlin

77

Frieda Lawrence

German writer

*August 11th, 1879, Metz †August 11th, 1956, Taos

85

Louis Prével

French rower (1879-1964)

*January 29th, 1879, Nice †November 26th, 1964, Nice

66

Charles Delestraint

French general (1879-1945)

*March 12th, 1879, Biache-Saint-Vaast †April 19th, 1945, Dachau concentration camp

91

E. M. Forster

English novelist (1879-1970)

*January 1st, 1879, London †June 7th, 1970, Coventry

54

Louis Joseph Vance

American writer (1879-1933)

*September 19th, 1879, Washington, D.C. †December 16th, 1933, New York City

60

Paul Klee

Swiss artist (1879-1940)

*December 18th, 1879, Münchenbuchsee †June 29th, 1940, Muralto

74

Francis Picabia

French painter and writer (1879-1953)

*January 22nd, 1879, Paris †November 30th, 1953, Paris

70

Ramana Maharshi

Indian Hindu sage (1879–1950)

*December 30th, 1879, Tiruchuli Assembly constituency †April 14th, 1950, Sri Ramana Ashram

58

Warner Oland

Swedish-American actor (1879–1938)

*October 3rd, 1879, Västerbotten County †August 6th, 1938, Stockholm

94

Mary Forbes

British-American actress (1883-1974)

*December 30th, 1879, Hornsey †July 22nd, 1974, Beaumont

70

Sarojini Naidu

Indian poet, politician, governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949

*February 13th, 1879, Hyderabad †March 2nd, 1949, Lucknow

73

Annie Kenney

British suffragette (1879-1953)

*September 13th, 1879, Springhead †July 9th, 1953, Letchworth Garden City

65

Stefan Filipkiewicz

Polish artist (1879-1944)

*July 28th, 1879, Tarnów †August 23rd, 1944, Mauthausen concentration camp

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

No: With 365 days 1879 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
August 1879