May 17th, 1948

Born on May 17th, 1948

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 27,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 268 days, exactly on January 13th, 2025, people who were born on May 17th, 1948 will be 28,000 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, 1948

75

Winfried Kretschmann

German politician

*May 17th, 1948, Spaichingen

75

Dick Gaughan

British musician

*May 17th, 1948, Glasgow

75

Horst Köppel

German association football player and manager

*May 17th, 1948, Stuttgart

75

Pat Toomay

American football player

*May 17th, 1948, Pomona

75

Klaus Addicks

German anatomist

*May 17th, 1948, Oldenburg

74

Joe Hatton

Olympic basketball player

*May 17th, 1948, Ponce †July 1st, 2022

75

Veronica Doran

Actress

*May 17th, 1948, Carlisle

73

Carles Romeu Müller

Spanish comics artist, writer and caricaturist (1948-2021)

*May 17th, 1948, Barcelona †July 24th, 2021, Madrid

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

67

Sugar Ray Leonard

American boxer

*May 17th, 1956, Wilmington

35

Lyna bonasera

Belgian actress

*May 17th, 1988, West Los Angeles

73

Hawa Abdi

Somalian physician, activist (1947-2020)

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

40

Howard Ashman

American playwright and lyricist (1950-1991)

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

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

77

Udo Lindenberg

German rock musician and composer

*May 17th, 1946, Gronau

62

Enya

Irish singer

*May 17th, 1961, Gweedore

74

Bill Bruford

English drummer

*May 17th, 1949, Sevenoaks

70

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

President of Kazakhstan since 2019

*May 17th, 1953, Almaty

74

Dennis Hopper

American actor and director (1936–2010)

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

73

Alan Johnson

British politician (born 1950)

*May 17th, 1950, Paddington

74

Elke Leonhard

German opinion journalist and politician

*May 17th, 1949, Werkel

34

Tessa Virtue

Canadian ice dancer

*May 17th, 1989, London

71

Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira

Spanish politician

*May 17th, 1952, Cambrils

59

David Eigenberg

American actor

*May 17th, 1964, New York City

61

Ferenc Krausz

Austrian-Hungarian laser physicist

*May 17th, 1962, Mór

82

Gary Paulsen

American writer (1939–2021)

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

76

Michael Wolffsohn

German historian

*May 17th, 1947, Tel Aviv

Same year
Born in 1948

69

Ole Thestrup

Danish actor (1948-2018)

*March 12th, 1948, Nibe †February 2nd, 2018, Tuse Næs

46

Maurizio Gucci

Italian businessman (1948-1995)

*September 26th, 1948, Florence †March 27th, 1995, Milan

75

Charles III of the United Kingdom

King of the United Kingdom since 2022

*November 14th, 1948, Buckingham Palace

75

Norbert Lammert

German politician, president of the Bundestag

*November 16th, 1948, Bochum

75

Jon Amiel

English film director

*May 20th, 1948, London

75

Marius Müller-Westernhagen

German actor and musician

*December 6th, 1948, Düsseldorf

75

Laila Dåvøy

Norwegian politician

*August 11th, 1948, Bergen

75

Richard Simmons

American fitness instructor, actor, and video producer (born 1948)

*July 12th, 1948, New Orleans

69

Bernard Bosson

French politician (1948-2017)

*February 25th, 1948, Annecy †May 13th, 2017, 8th arrondissement of Lyon

76

Bärbel Kramer

German papyrologist

*March 26th, 1948, Mülheim an der Ruhr

75

Kathy Bates

American film actress and director

*June 28th, 1948, Memphis

71

Robert Trump

US business executive and real estate developer (1948-2020)

*August 26th, 1948, Queens †August 15th, 2020, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital

68

Bernie Wrightson

American illustrator

*October 27th, 1948, Baltimore †March 18th, 2017, Austin

75

Gérard Depardieu

French actor (born 1948)

*December 27th, 1948, Châteauroux

76

John de Lancie

American actor

*March 20th, 1948, Philadelphia

76

Al Gore

Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 (born 1948)

*March 31st, 1948, Washington, D.C.

75

Jonathan Hyde

Australian-born English actor

*May 21st, 1948, Brisbane

68

Altamas Kabir

39th Chief Justice of India

*July 19th, 1948, Kolkata †February 19th, 2017, Kolkata

75

Brian Eno

British musician, music producer, music theorist and visual artist (born 1948)

*May 15th, 1948, Melton

68

Carlos Gardini

Argentinian journalist (1948-2017)

*August 26th, 1948, Buenos Aires †March 1st, 2017, Buenos Aires

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, 1948
Future birthdays

Leap year

Yes: 1948 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
May 1948