August 17th, 1921

Born on August 17th, 1921

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 37,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 493 days, exactly on August 31st, 2025, people who were born on August 17th, 1921 will be 38,000 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, 1921

81

Walter Koschatzky

Art historian, author and curator (1921-2003)

*August 17th, 1921, Graz †May 9th, 2003, Vienna

73

Geoffrey Elton

British historian

*August 17th, 1921, Tübingen †December 3rd, 1994, England

102

Caius Novac

Romanian footballer

*August 17th, 1921, Lipova

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

89

Jean-Jacques Sempé

French cartoon artist

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

95

Maureen O'Hara

Irish-American actress and singer

*August 17th, 1920, Ranelagh †October 24th, 2015, Boise

96

Jiang Zemin

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

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

67

Evelyn Ankers

Actress (1918-1985)

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

77

Judi Rollick

Badminton player

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

54

Markus Gisdol

German association football player and manager

*August 17th, 1969, Geislingen an der Steige

87

Mona Andersson

Swedish actress

*August 17th, 1936, Örgryte församling

20

The Kid Laroi

Australian rapper and singer (born 2003)

*August 17th, 2003, Waterloo

76

Anders Hatlo

Norwegian actor and film director

*August 17th, 1947, Larvik

36

Bendik Brænne

Norwegian musician

*August 17th, 1987, Bærum Municipality

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

74

Julian Fellowes

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

*August 17th, 1949, Cairo

37

Marcus Berg

Swedish association football player

*August 17th, 1986, Torsby

46

Natasza Urbańska

Polish actress and singer

*August 17th, 1977, Warsaw

63

Sean Penn

American actor and filmmaker (born 1960)

*August 17th, 1960, Santa Monica

83

Mikhail Botvinnik

Soviet chess player

*August 17th, 1911, Repino †May 5th, 1995, Moscow

79

Larry Ellison

American internet entrepreneur and businessman

*August 17th, 1944, The Bronx

Same year
Born in 1921

85

Arve Opsahl

Norwegian actor

*May 14th, 1921, Christiania †April 29th, 2007, Oslo

95

Kenneth Arrow

American economist (1921-2017)

*August 23rd, 1921, New York City †February 21st, 2017, Palo Alto

95

Clifton James

American actor (1920-2017)

*May 29th, 1921, Spokane †April 15th, 2017, Gladstone

97

Pierre Riché

French historian (1921-2019)

*October 4th, 1921, 14th arrondissement of Paris †May 6th, 2019, Ivry-sur-Seine

97

Jürgen Kieser

German illustrator, draughtsperson and writer

*August 20th, 1921, Erkner †May 20th, 2019, Neu Zittau

94

Nancy Reagan

First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989

*July 6th, 1921, Manhattan †March 6th, 2016, Bel Air

53

Knud Hilding

Actor

*November 21st, 1921, Denmark †September 14th, 1975, Denmark

87

Robert Étienne

French historian and classical archaeologist (1921–2009)

*February 25th, 1921, Mérignac †January 4th, 2009, Bordeaux

82

Heinz Quermann

German television presenter (1921–2003)

*February 10th, 1921, Hanover †October 14th, 2003, Berlin

99

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Consort of Elizabeth II from 1952 to 2021

*June 10th, 1921, Corfu †April 9th, 2021, Windsor Castle

97

Carol Channing

American actress (1921–2019)

*January 31st, 1921, Seattle †January 15th, 2019, Rancho Mirage

68

Andrei Sakharov

Soviet nuclear physicist and human rights activist

*May 21st, 1921, Moscow †December 14th, 1989, Moscow

95

Thomas Schelling

American economist (1921-2016)

*April 14th, 1921, Oakland †December 13th, 2016, Bethesda

38

Diana Barrymore

American actress (1921-1960)

*March 3rd, 1921, New York City †January 25th, 1960, New York City

43

Judy Holliday

American actress, comedian and singer (1921-1965)

*June 21st, 1921, New York City †June 7th, 1965, New York City

86

Suharto

2nd President of Indonesia (1967—1998)

*June 8th, 1921, Kemusuk †January 27th, 2008, Jakarta

84

Stanisław Lem

Polish science fiction author, philosopher and futurologist (1921-2006), studied medical doctor

*September 12th, 1921, Lviv †March 27th, 2006, Kraków

55

James Jones

American author

*November 6th, 1921, Robinson †May 9th, 1977, Southampton

89

Billy Taylor

American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster, and educator (1921-2010)

*July 24th, 1921, Greenville †December 28th, 2010, Manhattan

72

Alexis Smith

Canadian-born American actress and singer (1921-1993)

*June 8th, 1921, Penticton †June 9th, 1993, Los Angeles

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 1921 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
August 1921