May 17th, 1939

Born on May 17th, 1939

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

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 981 days, exactly on December 26th, 2026, people who were born on May 17th, 1939 will be 32,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 17th, 1939?

May 17th, 1939

The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Lions

What else 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.

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

Born on May 17th, 1939

82

Gary Paulsen

American writer (1939–2021)

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

84

David H. Ahl

Magazine founder

*May 17th, 1939, United States of America

76

Andreas Mannkopff

German actor and voice actor (1939-2015)

*May 17th, 1939, Berlin †October 9th, 2015, Berlin

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

35

Lyna bonasera

Belgian actress

*May 17th, 1988, West Los Angeles

74

Dennis Hopper

American actor and director (1936–2010)

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

67

Sugar Ray Leonard

American boxer

*May 17th, 1956, Wilmington

83

Alan Kay

American computer scientist (born 1940)

*May 17th, 1940, Springfield

75

Winfried Kretschmann

German politician

*May 17th, 1948, Spaichingen

61

Thomas Rachel

German politician (CDU)

*May 17th, 1962, Birkesdorf

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

58

Jason Bernard

American actor

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

34

Tessa Virtue

Canadian ice dancer

*May 17th, 1989, London

85

Philippe Boesmans

Belgian composer and organist

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

40

Howard Ashman

American playwright and lyricist (1950-1991)

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

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

85

Ruth Landers

American film producer

*May 17th, 1938, Frankfurt

91

Marianne von Weizsäcker

Spouse of the German President

*May 17th, 1932, Essen

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

82

Ben Nelson

37th Governor of Nebraska

*May 17th, 1941, McCook

Same year
Born in 1939

85

Hans Kloft

German historian of classical antiquity

*April 10th, 1939, Düsseldorf

64

João César Monteiro

Portuguese film director, actor, writer and film critic

*February 2nd, 1939, Figueira da Foz †February 3rd, 2003, Lisbon

77

Dudley Storey

New Zealand rower

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

84

Thilo Ulbert

German christian archaeologist

*June 20th, 1939, Augsburg

83

Tina Turner

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

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

83

Hans-Christian Ströbele

German lawyer and politician (1939–2022)

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

78

Oscar Fulloné

Argentine association football player and manager (1939-2017)

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

84

Helga Piur

German actress and voice actress

*May 24th, 1939, Berlin

84

Yves Meyer

French mathematician

*July 19th, 1939, Paris

84

Margaret Atwood

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

*November 18th, 1939, Ottawa

56

Peter Aust

1939-1996 German actor

*March 17th, 1939, Bytom †January 26th, 1996, Bad Wildungen

70

Dixie Carter

American actress (1939–2010)

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

78

Irio De Paula

Brazilian composer

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

78

Peter Grünberg

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

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

59

Dusty Springfield

British singer (1939–1999)

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

74

Karen Black

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

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

80

Karel Gott

Czech singer and actor

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

84

Brenda Vaccaro

American actress

*November 18th, 1939, Brooklyn

80

Valerie Harper

American actress (1939-2019)

*August 22nd, 1939, Suffern †August 30th, 2019, Los Angeles

84

Jane Alexander

American actress (b. 1939)

*October 28th, 1939, Boston

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, 1939
Future birthdays

Leap year

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

Calendar
May 1939