April 17th, 1908

Born on April 17th, 1908

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 42,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 619 days, exactly on January 8th, 2026, people who were born on April 17th, 1908 will be 43,000 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, 1908

55

Ivan Brown

Bobsledder

*April 17th, 1908, Essex County †May 22nd, 1963, Hartford

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

87

Alain Poher

French politician (1909-1996)

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

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

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

65

Sean Bean

English actor

*April 17th, 1959, Handsworth

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

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

63

William Holden

American actor (1918–1981)

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

67

Nick Hornby

English novelist

*April 17th, 1957, Redhill

84

Hervé Bazin

French writer

*April 17th, 1911, Angers †February 17th, 1996, Angers

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

90

Gebhard Müller

German politician (1900-1990)

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

71

Lindsay Anderson

British feature-film, theatre and documentary director and film critic (1923-1994)

*April 17th, 1923, Bengaluru †August 30th, 1994, Angoulême

52

Jennifer Garner

American actress

*April 17th, 1972, Houston

37

Medhi Benatia

Moroccan and French footballer

*April 17th, 1987, Courcouronnes

50

Victoria Beckham

English businesswoman, fashion designer and singer

*April 17th, 1974, Harlow

83

Lagle Parek

Estonian politician

*April 17th, 1941, Pärnu

32

Jasper Stuyven

Belgian cyclist

*April 17th, 1992, Leuven

54

Pascale Arbillot

French actress

*April 17th, 1970, France

Same year
Born in 1908

78

Simone de Beauvoir

French philosopher, social theorist and activist (1908–1986)

*January 9th, 1908, Paris †April 14th, 1986, 14th arrondissement of Paris

64

Lyndon B. Johnson

President of the United States from 1963 to 1969

*August 27th, 1908, Stonewall †January 22nd, 1973, Stonewall

78

Arnaldo Momigliano

Italian historian of classical antiquity (1908–1987)

*September 5th, 1908, Caraglio †September 1st, 1987, London

88

Wolfram von Soden

German Assyriologist

*June 19th, 1908, Berlin †October 6th, 1996, Münster

97

Myron Waldman

American animator (1908-2006)

*April 23rd, 1908, Brooklyn †February 4th, 2006, Bethpage

100

Claude Lévi-Strauss

French anthropologist and ethnologist (1908–2009)

*November 28th, 1908, City of Brussels †October 30th, 2009, 16th arrondissement of Paris

66

Louis Jordan

American jazz, blues and rhythm and blues musician, songwriter and bandleader (1908–1975)

*July 8th, 1908, Arkansas †February 4th, 1975, Los Angeles

65

Salvador Allende

28th president of Chile (1908–1973)

*June 26th, 1908, Valparaíso †September 11th, 1973, Santiago

96

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter

*December 31st, 1908, Buchach †September 20th, 2005, Vienna

52

Richard Wright

American writer (1908-1960)

*September 4th, 1908, Natchez †November 28th, 1960, Paris

83

Olivier Messiaen

French composer, organist and ornithologist (1908–1992)

*December 10th, 1908, Avignon †April 27th, 1992, Clichy

89

James Stewart

American actor (1908–1997)

*May 20th, 1908, Indiana †July 2nd, 1997, Beverly Hills

81

Bette Davis

American actress (1908–1989)

*April 5th, 1908, Lowell †October 6th, 1989, Neuilly-sur-Seine

76

Ethel Merman

American actress and singer (1908-1984)

*January 16th, 1908, Astoria †February 15th, 1984, Manhattan

97

John Mills

English actor (1908-2005)

*February 22nd, 1908, Felixstowe †April 23rd, 2005, Denham

91

Amintore Fanfani

Italian politician statesman (1908–1999)

*February 6th, 1908, Pieve Santo Stefano †November 20th, 1999, Rome

84

Robert Morley

British actor (1908–1992)

*May 26th, 1908, Semley †June 3rd, 1992, Reading

82

Robert Cummings

American actor (1910–1990)

*June 9th, 1908, Joplin †December 2nd, 1990, Woodland Hills

85

Raymond Scott

American composer, bandleader, pianist, record producer and inventor (1908-1994)

*September 10th, 1908, Brooklyn †February 8th, 1994, North Hills

82

Jill Esmond

British actress (1908–1990)

*January 26th, 1908, London †July 28th, 1990, Wimbledon

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

Yes: 1908 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
April 1908