August 17th, 1940

Born on August 17th, 1940

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 30,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 431 days, exactly on July 2nd, 2025, people who were born on August 17th, 1940 will be 31,000 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, 1940

83

Barry Sheerman

British politician (born 1940)

*August 17th, 1940, Sunbury-on-Thames

83

Ferenc Mikulás

Film producer

*August 17th, 1940, Kaposvár

69

Klaus Riebschläger

German politician, jurist and lawyer (1940-2009)

*August 17th, 1940, Berlin †September 23rd, 2009, Schönhagen

66

Eduardo Mignogna

Argentine film director

*August 17th, 1940, Buenos Aires †October 6th, 2006, Buenos Aires

83

Leslie B. McLemore

American mayor

*August 17th, 1940, Walls

83

Joseph Pairin Kitingan

Malaysian politician

*August 17th, 1940, Papar

83

Hans-Helmut Trense

German long jumper

*August 17th, 1940, Kiel

83

Freddie Elizalde

Filipino swimmer

*August 17th, 1940, Makati

83

Peter Landweber

American mathematician

*August 17th, 1940, Washington, D.C.

83

Ady Schmit

Luxembourgish footballer

*August 17th, 1940, Luxembourg

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

80

Robert De Niro

American actor (born 1943)

*August 17th, 1943, Greenwich Village

45

Vibeke Stene

Gothic metal soprano singer, ex female vocals of Tristania

*August 17th, 1978, Sokndal

77

Judi Rollick

Badminton player

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

89

Jean-Jacques Sempé

French cartoon artist

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

87

Mona Andersson

Swedish actress

*August 17th, 1936, Örgryte församling

71

Lothar Bisky

German politician (1941-2013)

*August 17th, 1941, Korzybie, Pomeranian Voivodeship †August 13th, 2013, Leipzig

76

Anders Hatlo

Norwegian actor and film director

*August 17th, 1947, Larvik

54

Markus Gisdol

German association football player and manager

*August 17th, 1969, Geislingen an der Steige

79

Larry Ellison

American internet entrepreneur and businessman

*August 17th, 1944, The Bronx

20

The Kid Laroi

Australian rapper and singer (born 2003)

*August 17th, 2003, Waterloo

74

Julian Fellowes

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

*August 17th, 1949, Cairo

66

Muslim Magomayev

Soviet-Azerbaijani singer

*August 17th, 1942, Baku †October 25th, 2008, Moscow

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

96

Jiang Zemin

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

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

77

Jean-Paul Besset

French journalist and politician

*August 17th, 1946, Chamalières

36

Bendik Brænne

Norwegian musician

*August 17th, 1987, Bærum Municipality

81

Michel Creton

French actor

*August 17th, 1942, Wassy

82

Ibrahim Babangida

Head of State of Nigeria

*August 17th, 1941, Kontagora

63

Sean Penn

American actor and filmmaker (born 1960)

*August 17th, 1960, Santa Monica

Same year
Born in 1940

83

Onur Öymen

Turkish politician and diplomat

*October 18th, 1940, Kadıköy

84

Lorns Skjemstad

Norwegian cross-country skier

*March 10th, 1940, Inderøy Municipality

40

John Lennon

British musician (1940–1980)

*October 9th, 1940, Liverpool †December 8th, 1980, New York City

83

Jeannie Seely

American singer

*July 6th, 1940, Titusville

76

Al Jarreau

American singer (1940–2017)

*March 12th, 1940, Milwaukee †February 12th, 2017, Los Angeles

82

Pelé

Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)

*October 23rd, 1940, Três Corações †December 29th, 2022, Morumbi District

84

Al Pacino

American actor (born 1940)

*April 25th, 1940, Manhattan

77

Michael Parks

American actor (1940–2017)

*April 24th, 1940, Corona †May 9th, 2017, Los Angeles

83

Annie Ernaux

French writer (born 1940)

*September 1st, 1940, Lillebonne

82

James Caan

American actor (1940–2022)

*March 26th, 1940, The Bronx †July 6th, 2022, Los Angeles

80

Wolfgang Clement

German politician

*July 7th, 1940, Bochum †September 27th, 2020, Bonn

84

Nancy Pelosi

American politician (born 1940)

*March 26th, 1940, Baltimore

32

Bruce Lee

Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

*November 27th, 1940, San Francisco Chinese Hospital †July 20th, 1973, Kowloon Tong

84

Jana Brejchová

Czech actress

*January 20th, 1940, Prague

55

Joseph Brodsky

Russian-American poet (1940-1996)

*May 24th, 1940, Saint Petersburg †January 28th, 1996, Brooklyn

76

Manfred Jung

German singer and operatic tenor

*July 9th, 1940, Oberhausen †April 14th, 2017, Essen

79

Tilo Prückner

German actor and author

*October 26th, 1940, Augsburg †July 2nd, 2020, Berlin

83

Ringo Starr

British musician, drummer for the Beatles

*July 7th, 1940, Liverpool

83

Patrick Stewart

British actor (born 1940)

*July 13th, 1940, Mirfield

77

John Hurt

British actor (1940–2017)

*January 22nd, 1940, Chesterfield †January 25th, 2017, Norfolk

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

Born on August 17th, 1940
Future birthdays

Leap year

Yes: 1940 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
August 1940