January 17th, 1939

Born on January 17th, 1939

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

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 83 days, exactly on August 28th, 2026, people who were born on January 17th, 1939 will be 32,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on January 17th?

January 17th, 1377

Gregory XI, the last Avignon pope, entered Rome after a four-month journey from Avignon, returning the papacy to its original city.

January 17th, 1999

In Little Saigon, California, a series of protests began when the owner of a video rental store displayed an image of Ho Chi Minh.

January 17th, 2010

The first spate of violence between Muslims and Christians began in Jos, Nigeria, and would end in more than 200 deaths.

January 17th, 2002

Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, began an eruption that killed hundreds and left about 120,000 people homeless in the nearby town of Goma.

January 17th, 1998

The Drudge Report became the first news source to break the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal to the public.

January 17th, 1989

Patrick Purdy opened fire in an elementary school in Stockton, California, killing 5 and wounding 32 others.

January 17th, 1966

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress collided with a KC-135 Stratotanker during aerial refueling over the Mediterranean Sea, dropping three hydrogen bombs on land near Palomares, Spain, and a fourth one into the sea.

January 17th, 1961

Three days before leaving office, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a farewell speech to the nation, in which he warned about the dangers of the military–industrial complex.

January 17th, 1948

Indonesian National Revolution: The Renville Agreement between the Netherlands and Indonesian republicans was ratified, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to resolve disputes arising from the Linggadjati Agreement of 1946.

January 17th, 1946

The United Nations Security Council, the organ of the United Nations charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, held its first meeting at Church House, Westminster.

January 17th, 1945

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody during the Siege of Budapest and was never seen in public again.

January 17th, 1920

The Volstead Act went into effect, beginning the prohibition of alcohol in the United States.

January 17th, 1917

Denmark sold their portion of the Virgin Islands archipelago to the United States for US$25 million.

January 17th, 1912

Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition reached the South Pole, only to find that Roald Amundsen's team had beaten them by 33 days.

January 17th, 1899

The United States took possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.

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

Born on January 17th, 1939

87

Annelie Keil

German sociologist and health scientist

*January 17th, 1939, Berlin

87

Maury Povich

American television personality

*January 17th, 1939, Washington, D.C.

87

Bob Giraldi

American film director

*January 17th, 1939, United States of America

69

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece

*January 17th, 1939, Xanthi †January 28th, 2008, Athens

87

Volodymyr Horbulin

Ukrainian politician

*January 17th, 1939, Zaporizhzhia

87

Giacomo Rizzo

Italian actor

*January 17th, 1939, Naples

Same year
Born in 1939

87

Helga Piur

German actress and voice actress

*May 24th, 1939, Berlin

87

Hans Kloft

German historian of classical antiquity

*April 10th, 1939, Düsseldorf

83

Hans-Christian Ströbele

German lawyer and politician (1939–2022)

*June 7th, 1939, Halle (Saale) †August 29th, 2022, Moabit

83

Tina Turner

American-born Swiss singer and songwriter (1939–2023)

*November 26th, 1939, Brownsville †May 24th, 2023, Küsnacht

77

Dudley Storey

New Zealand rower

*November 27th, 1939, Wairoa †March 6th, 2017, Auckland

77

Bill White

Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach (1939-2017)

*August 26th, 1939, Toronto †May 21st, 2017, Toronto

78

Oscar Fulloné

Argentine association football player and manager (1939-2017)

*April 4th, 1939, La Plata †May 22nd, 2017, Casablanca

70

Dixie Carter

American actress (1939–2010)

*May 25th, 1939, McLemoresville †April 10th, 2010, Houston

84

Heinrich Messner

Austrian alpine skier

*September 1st, 1939, Obernberg am Brenner †October 19th, 2023

86

Margaret Atwood

Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor

*November 18th, 1939, Ottawa

86

Yves Meyer

French mathematician

*July 19th, 1939, Paris

87

Monika von Starck

German painter and sculptor

*February 3rd, 1939, Cologne

74

Karen Black

American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter (1939-2013)

*July 1st, 1939, Park Ridge †August 8th, 2013, Santa Monica

78

Irio De Paula

Brazilian composer (1939–2017)

*May 10th, 1939, Rio de Janeiro †May 23rd, 2017, Rome

87

Ian McKellen

British actor (born 1939)

*May 25th, 1939, Burnley

59

Dusty Springfield

British singer (1939–1999)

*April 16th, 1939, London †March 2nd, 1999, Henley-on-Thames

78

Peter Grünberg

German physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (1939-2018)

*May 18th, 1939, Plzeň †April 7th, 2018, Jülich

80

Karel Gott

Czech singer and actor

*July 14th, 1939, Plzeň †October 1st, 2019, Prague

80

Ginger Baker

British drummer (1939–2019)

*August 19th, 1939, Lewisham †October 6th, 2019, Canterbury

86

Brenda Vaccaro

American actress

*November 18th, 1939, Brooklyn

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on January 17th

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

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Born on January 17th, 1939
Future birthdays

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1939 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
January 1939