May 17th, 1938

Born on May 17th, 1938

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 31,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 611 days, exactly on December 26th, 2025, people who were born on May 17th, 1938 will be 32,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 17th?

May 17th, 2004

Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

May 17th, 2000

Following the killing of two English football fans by Galatasaray supporters in the previous month, British and Turkish hooligans rioted on the day of the UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen, Denmark.

May 17th, 1995

Six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama selected by the 14th Dalai Lama, was kidnapped by the Chinese government, who advocated a proxy.

May 17th, 1987

An Iraqi jet aircraft fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark leaving 37 personnel of the warship dead and 21 others injured.

May 17th, 1974

The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated a series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 34 people and injuring almost 300 more.

May 17th, 1954

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.

May 17th, 1947

After renegotiating a contract with the makers of her signature perfume Chanel No. 5, Coco Chanel (pictured) received a share of wartime profits from its sale, making her one of the richest women in the world.

May 17th, 1914

Under the Protocol of Corfu, the Principality of Albania officially recognized Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region.

May 17th, 1902

The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving geared mechanism, was discovered among artifacts retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.

May 17th, 1900

The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.

May 17th, 1865

The International Telecommunication Union, which standardizes and regulates international radio and telecommunications, was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris.

May 17th, 1863

American Civil War: at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard, capturing around 1,700 men.

May 17th, 1590

Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.

May 17th, 1521

English nobleman Edward Stafford, whose father had been beheaded for rebelling against King Richard III, was himself executed for treason against King Henry VIII.

May 17th, 1395

An outnumbered Wallachian army repulsed invading Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rovine.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 17th

Born on May 17th, 1938

58

Jason Bernard

American actor

*May 17th, 1938, Chicago †October 16th, 1996, Burbank

85

Ruth Landers

American film producer

*May 17th, 1938, Frankfurt

85

Joan Blackman

American actress

*May 17th, 1938, San Francisco

68

André Valardy

Belgian actor (1938–2007)

*May 17th, 1938, Borgerhout †April 30th, 2007, 14th arrondissement of Paris

70

Pervis Jackson

American singer

*May 17th, 1938, New Orleans †August 18th, 2008, Detroit

83

Marcia Freedman

Israeli politician

*May 17th, 1938, Newark †September 21st, 2021, South Berkeley

71

Claude Johnson

American actor

*May 17th, 1938, Lassen County †May 18th, 2009, Los Angeles

84

Filippo Ottoni

Italian director, dubbing director, screenwriter

*May 17th, 1938, Cellere †May 7th, 2023

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

61

Bill Paxton

American actor and filmmaker (1955–2017)

*May 17th, 1955, Fort Worth †February 25th, 2017, Los Angeles

74

Dennis Hopper

American actor and director (1936–2010)

*May 17th, 1936, Dodge City †May 29th, 2010, Venice

82

Gary Paulsen

American writer (1939–2021)

*May 17th, 1939, Minneapolis †October 13th, 2021, Tularosa

35

Lyna bonasera

Belgian actress

*May 17th, 1988, West Los Angeles

67

Sugar Ray Leonard

American boxer

*May 17th, 1956, Wilmington

75

Winfried Kretschmann

German politician

*May 17th, 1948, Spaichingen

83

Alan Kay

American computer scientist (born 1940)

*May 17th, 1940, Springfield

61

Thomas Rachel

German politician (CDU)

*May 17th, 1962, Birkesdorf

85

Philippe Boesmans

Belgian composer and organist

*May 17th, 1936, Tongeren †April 10th, 2022, City of Brussels

65

Bob Saget

American actor and comedian (1956–2022)

*May 17th, 1956, Philadelphia †January 9th, 2022, Orlando

62

Enya

Irish singer

*May 17th, 1961, Gweedore

34

Tessa Virtue

Canadian ice dancer

*May 17th, 1989, London

40

Howard Ashman

American playwright and lyricist (1950-1991)

*May 17th, 1950, Baltimore †March 14th, 1991, New York City

91

Marianne von Weizsäcker

Spouse of the German President

*May 17th, 1932, Essen

79

Lars Gustafsson

Swedish writer (1936-2016)

*May 17th, 1936, Västerås †April 3rd, 2016, Stockholm

73

Hawa Abdi

Somalian physician, activist (1947-2020)

*May 17th, 1947, Mogadishu †August 5th, 2020, Mogadishu

59

David Eigenberg

American actor

*May 17th, 1964, New York City

94

Bill Minor

American journalist

*May 17th, 1922, Hammond †March 28th, 2017, Ridgeland

72

Jean Gabin

French actor, recording artist (1904-1976)

*May 17th, 1904, 9th arrondissement of Paris †November 15th, 1976, Neuilly-sur-Seine

70

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

President of Kazakhstan since 2019

*May 17th, 1953, Almaty

Same year
Born in 1938

85

Otto Rehhagel

German footballer and manager

*August 9th, 1938, Essen

85

Hans Abraham

Badminton player

*September 10th, 1938, Berlin

82

Diana Rigg

English actress (1938–2020)

*July 20th, 1938, Doncaster †September 10th, 2020, London

80

Kofi Annan

7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1938-2018)

*April 8th, 1938, Kumasi †August 18th, 2018, Bern

78

Michael Bogdanov

British theatre director

*December 15th, 1938, Neath †April 16th, 2017, Greece

85

Jon Voight

American actor (born 1938)

*December 29th, 1938, Yonkers

83

Herbert Achternbusch

German writer, painter and filmmaker (1938–2022)

*November 23rd, 1938, Munich †January 10th, 2022, Munich

82

Fips Asmussen

German comedian (1938–2020)

*April 30th, 1938, Hamburg †August 9th, 2020, Carl-von-Basedow-Klinikum

66

Lars Hillingsø

Danish fashion designer (1938-2005)

*July 12th, 1938, Copenhagen †February 20th, 2005, Croissanville

84

Fritz Pleitgen

German journalist and author (1938-2022)

*March 21st, 1938, Duisburg †September 15th, 2022, Cologne

78

Inga Ålenius

Swedish actress (1938-2017)

*May 15th, 1938, Stockholm †April 24th, 2017, Helsingborg

43

Romy Schneider

German-French actress (1938–1982)

*September 23rd, 1938, Vienna †May 29th, 1982, 7th arrondissement of Paris

78

Silvano Basagni

Italian sport shooter (1938-2017)

*August 6th, 1938, Florence †May 10th, 2017, Florence

86

Juan Carlos I of Spain

King of Spain from 1975 to 2014

*January 5th, 1938, Rome

42

Vladimir Vysotsky

Soviet singer-songwriter and actor (1938–1980)

*January 25th, 1938, Moscow †July 25th, 1980, Moscow

85

Elliott Gould

American actor

*August 29th, 1938, Brooklyn

85

Tommy Chong

Canadian actor and comedian

*May 24th, 1938, Edmonton

79

Gene Michael

Former Major League Baseball player, manager, executive

*June 2nd, 1938, Kent †September 7th, 2017, Oldsmar

85

Giuliano Amato

Italian politician (born 1938)

*May 13th, 1938, Turin

85

Connie Stevens

American actress and singer

*August 8th, 1938, Brooklyn

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 17th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 17th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Born on May 17th, 1938
Future birthdays

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1938 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1938