August 17 :: Historical Births Today

Famous Births

• 1473 - Richard, Duke of York (d. 1483?)


• 1562 - Hans Leo Hassler (baptized), German composer (d. 1612)


• 1578 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660)


• 1601 - Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician (d. 1665)


• 1629 - King John III of Poland (d. 1696)


• 1753 - Josef Dobrovský, Czech linguist (d. 1828)


• 1768 - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, French general (d. 1800)


• 1786 - Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836)


• 1786 - Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria (d. 1861)


• 1794 - Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, German priest (d. 1849)


• 1828 - Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (d. 1897)


• 1844 - Menelek II of Ethiopia (d. 1913)


• 1863 - Gene Stratton-Porter, American author and naturalist (d. 1924)


• 1866 - Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (d. 1911)


• 1866 - Julia Marlowe, English actress (d. 1950)


• 1873 - John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (d. 1946)


• 1882 - Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood producer (d. 1974)


• 1887 - Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born Black rights activist (d. 1940)


• 1887 - Charles I of Austria (d. 1922)


• 1888 - Monty Woolley, American actor (d. 1963)


• 1890 - Harry Hopkins, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1946)


• 1890 - Stefan Bastyr, Polish aviator (d. 1920)


• 1893 - Mae West, American actress (d. 1980)


• 1896 - Leslie Groves, American military engineer (d. 1970)


• 1904 - Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d. 1991)


• 1904 - Mary Cain, American newspaper editor and politician (d. 1984)


• 1909 - Larry Clinton, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)


• 1911 - Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (d. 1995)


• 1913 - W. Mark Felt, American Watergate informant


• 1913 - Rudy York, American baseball player (d. 1970)


• 1913 - Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (d. 1989)


• 1914 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (d. 1988)


• 1919 - Georgia Gibbs, American singer (d. 2006)


• 1920 - Maureen O'Hara, Irish actress


• 1921 - Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, British historian (d. 1994)


• 1926 - Jiang Zemin, Chinese politician


• 1926 - George Melly, British singer (d. 2007)


• 1926 - Jean Poiret, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1992)


• 1929 - Francis Gary Powers, American U-2 pilot (d. 1977)


• 1930 - Glenn Corbett, American actor (d. 1993)


• 1930 - Ted Hughes, English poet (d. 1998)


• 1932 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian writer, Nobel Laureate


• 1933 - Eugene F. Kranz, American NASA executive


• 1933 - Mark Dinning, American singer (d. 1986)


• 1935 - Oleg Tabakov, Russian actor


• 1936 - Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Native American musician-actor (d. 2007)


• 1938 - Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian Muslim cleric


• 1938 - Theodoros Pangalos, Greek politician


• 1939 - Luther Allison, American musician


• 1939 - Anthony Valentine, British actor


• 1940 - Eduardo Mignogna, Argentinian film director (d. 2006)


• 1941 - Jean Pierre Lefebvre, French Canadian film director


• 1941 - Boog Powell, American baseball player


• 1943 - Robert De Niro, American actor


• 1943 - Dave "Snaker" Ray, American musician (d. 2002)


• 1944 - Lawrence Joseph Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, Billionaire


• 1946 - Martha Coolidge, American film director


• 1947 - Gary Talley, American guitarist (Box Tops)


• 1947 - Sylvia Nasar, German-born American economist and author


• 1948 - Rod MacDonald, American musician


• 1949 - Sib Hashian, American drummer (Boston)


• 1949 - Norm Coleman, American politician


• 1951 - Robert Joy, Canadian actor


• 1951 - Alan Minter, British boxer


• 1952 - Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver


• 1952 - Dr. Mario Theissen, German F1 team principal (BMW Sauber)


• 1952 - Guillermo Vilas, Argentinian tennis player


• 1953 - Judith Regan, American book publisher


• 1953 - Kevin Rowland, English musician (Dexys Midnight Runners)


• 1954 - Eric Johnson, American guitarist


• 1955 - Richard Hilton, American heir


• 1956 - Gail Berman, American film executive


• 1956 - Álvaro Pino, Spanish cyclist


• 1957 - Robin Cousins, British figure skater


• 1958 - Belinda Carlisle, American singer


• 1958 - Kirk Stevens, Canadian snooker player


• 1959 - David Koresh, American cult leader (d. 1993)


• 1959 - Jonathan Franzen, American author


• 1960 - Sean Penn, American actor and director


• 1960 - James Daly, American journalist


• 1960 - Stephan Eicher, Swiss singer


• 1962 - Gilby Clarke, American musician (Guns N' Roses)


• 1963 - S. Shankar, Indian film director.


• 1964 - Colin James, Canadian musician


• 1966 - Maysa Leak, American Jazz Singer


• 1966 - Rodney Mullen, American skateboarder


• 1966 - Don Sweeney, Canadian ice hockey player


• 1967 - Kevin Max, American singer (dc_talk)


• 1968 - Ed McCaffrey, American football player


• 1968 - Helen McCrory, English actress


• 1969 - Christian Laettner, American basketball player


• 1969 - Donnie Wahlberg, American actor and singer


• 1970 - Jim Courier, American tennis player


• 1970 - Rupert Degas, English actor and voice artist


• 1970 - Oyvind Leonhardsen, Norwegian footballer


• 1971 - Jorge Posada, Puerto Rican baseball player


• 1971 - Uhm Jung-hwa, South Korean singer and actress


• 1972 - Habibul Bashar, Bangladeshi cricketer


• 1972 - Ken Ryker, American pornographic actor


• 1974 - Tony Hajjar, Lebanese drummer (At the Drive-In, Sparta)


• 1974 - Nicola Kraus, American novelist


• 1975 - Giuliana DePandi, Italian-born American television personality


• 1975 - İlhan Mansız, Turkish footballer


• 1976 - Scott Halberstadt, American actor


• 1977 - Thierry Henry, French footballer


• 1977 - Tarja Turunen, Finnish singer


• 1977 - William Gallas, French footballer


• 1978 - Vibeke Stene, Norwegian singer (Tristania)


• 1978 - Karena Lam, Hong Kong actress


• 1979 - Antwaan Randle El, American football player


• 1979 - Marcus Patric, British actor


• 1980 - Lene Marlin, Norwegian singer


• 1980 - Keith Dabengwa, Zimbabwean cricketer


• 1980 - Jan Kromkamp, Dutch footballer


• 1981 - Kristin Holt, American television personality


• 1982 - Melissa Anderson, American professional wrestler


• 1982 - Phil Jagielka, English footballer


• 1983 - Dustin Pedroia, American baseball player


• 1984 - Dee Brown, American basketball player


• 1985 - Yū Aoi, Japanese actress


• 1986 - Rudy Gay, American basketball player


• 1986 - Tyrus Thomas, American basketball player


• 1988 - Erika Toda, Japanese actress


• 1990 - Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress


• 1990 - Colin Bates, American actor


• 1996 - Ella Cruz, Filipina actress