May 17th, 1949

Born on May 17th, 1949

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

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 627 days, exactly on January 13th, 2026, people who were born on May 17th, 1949 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, 1949

74

Bill Bruford

English drummer

*May 17th, 1949, Sevenoaks

74

Elke Leonhard

German opinion journalist and politician

*May 17th, 1949, Werkel

74

Keith

American vocalist

*May 17th, 1949, Philadelphia

66

Luke Haas

Luxembourgish musician and comics artist (1949-2015)

*May 17th, 1949, Esch-sur-Alzette †December 14th, 2015

74

Francine Buchi

French journalist

*May 17th, 1949, Geneva

72

Hiroshi Ogawa

Japanese politician

*May 17th, 1949, Fukuoka †November 2nd, 2021, Fukuoka

71

Marc Fosset

French musician

*May 17th, 1949, 14th arrondissement of Paris †October 31st, 2020, Verrières-le-Buisson

74

Owen Witte

American physician-scientist

*May 17th, 1949, Brooklyn

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

75

Winfried Kretschmann

German politician

*May 17th, 1948, Spaichingen

67

Sugar Ray Leonard

American boxer

*May 17th, 1956, Wilmington

40

Howard Ashman

American playwright and lyricist (1950-1991)

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

35

Lyna bonasera

Belgian actress

*May 17th, 1988, West Los Angeles

61

Thomas Rachel

German politician (CDU)

*May 17th, 1962, Birkesdorf

73

Hawa Abdi

Somalian physician, activist (1947-2020)

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

65

Bob Saget

American actor and comedian (1956–2022)

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

73

Alan Johnson

British politician (born 1950)

*May 17th, 1950, Paddington

70

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

President of Kazakhstan since 2019

*May 17th, 1953, Almaty

62

Enya

Irish singer

*May 17th, 1961, Gweedore

75

Dick Gaughan

British musician

*May 17th, 1948, Glasgow

74

Dennis Hopper

American actor and director (1936–2010)

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

71

Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira

Spanish politician

*May 17th, 1952, Cambrils

57

Janez Drnovšek

Slovenian politician (1950–2008)

*May 17th, 1950, Celje †February 23rd, 2008, Zaplana

34

Tessa Virtue

Canadian ice dancer

*May 17th, 1989, London

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

75

Horst Köppel

German association football player and manager

*May 17th, 1948, Stuttgart

Same year
Born in 1949

75

Joachim Witt

German rock musician

*February 22nd, 1949, Hamburg

74

Rudy Hartono

Indonesian badminton player

*August 18th, 1949, Surabaya

75

Åse Kleveland

Swedish-Norwegian singer and politician

*March 18th, 1949, Stockholm

70

Jahn Teigen

Norwegian singer, musician, and comedian (1949–2020)

*September 27th, 1949, Tønsberg Municipality †February 24th, 2020, Ystad

74

David Rubenstein

American businessman

*August 11th, 1949, Baltimore

74

Sherman Howard

American actor

*June 11th, 1949, Chicago

74

Egon Flaig

German university teacher, Historian of classical antiquity and writer

*May 16th, 1949, Oberstenfeld

74

Meryl Streep

American actress (born 1949)

*June 22nd, 1949, Summit

74

Odaline de la Martinez

American conductor and composer

*October 31st, 1949, Matanzas

74

Gertrúd Ladányi

Badminton player

*May 3rd, 1949, Esztergom

66

Papa Wemba

Congolese singer and musician

*June 14th, 1949, Lubefu †April 24th, 2016, Abidjan

67

Denis Johnson

American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

*July 1st, 1949, Munich †May 24th, 2017, Sea Ranch

40

Stiv Bators

American punk rock vocalist and guitarist

*October 22nd, 1949, Youngstown †June 3rd, 1990, 1st arrondissement of Paris

74

Sverre Årnes

Norwegian writer

*May 14th, 1949, Surnadal Municipality

74

Gloria Gaynor

American singer

*September 7th, 1949, Newark

75

Jessica Lange

American actress

*April 20th, 1949, Cloquet

67

Carlos Slepoy

Argentinian lawyer (1949-2017)

*October 2nd, 1949, Buenos Aires †April 17th, 2017, Madrid

68

Stanley Greene

American photographer (1949-2017)

*February 14th, 1949, Brooklyn †May 19th, 2017, Paris

74

Bruce Springsteen

American rock singer (born 1949)

*September 23rd, 1949, Long Branch

74

Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister of Israel (1996–1999, 2009–2021, 2022–present)

*October 21st, 1949, Tel Aviv

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, 1949
Future birthdays

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1949 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1949