Famous Birthdays for February 17th

Pre-1600[edit]

• 624 – Wu Zetian, Chinese empress consort (d. 705)
• 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian scholar and imam (d. 1085)^[15]
• 1490 – Charles III, duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)^[16]
• 1519 – Francis, French Grand Chamberlain (d. 1563)^[17]
• 1524 – Charles de Lorraine, French cardinal (d. 1574)^[18]

1601–1900[edit]

• 1646 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)^[19]
• 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1713)^[20]
• 1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)
• 1740 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and meteorologist (d. 1799)^[21]
• 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (d. 1831)
• 1754 – Nicolas Baudin, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1803)
• 1758 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (d. 1826)
• 1762 – John Cooke, English captain (d. 1805)^[22]
• 1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)^[23]
• 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (d. 1866)
• 1799 – Carl Julian (von) Graba, German lawyer and ornithologist who visited and studied the Faroe Islands (d. 1874)^[24]
• 1817 – Édouard Thilges, Luxembourgian jurist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
• 1820 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1881)^[25]
• 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (d. 1861)^[26]
• 1832 – Richard Henry Park, American sculptor (d. 1902)
• 1836 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1870)
• 1843 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)
• 1848 – Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and publisher (d. 1920)
• 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German businessman (d. 1902)
• 1861 – Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, duchess of Albany (d. 1922)^[27]
• 1862 – Mori Ōgai, Japanese general, author, and poet (d. 1922)
• 1864 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak priest, botanist, and painter (d. 1929)
• 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1941)^[28]
• 1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (d. 1956)
• 1877 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author (d. 1904)^[29]
• 1877 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (d. 1932)
• 1879 – Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American educational reformer, social activist and author (d. 1958)^[30]
• 1881 – Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service (d. 1965)
• 1887 – Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
• 1887 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic (d. 1947)
• 1888 – Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
• 1890 – Ronald Fisher, English-Australian statistician, biologist, and geneticist (d. 1962)
• 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1965)
• 1899 – Jibanananda Das, Bangladeshi-Indian poet and author (d. 1954)
• 1900 – Ruth Clifford, American actress (d. 1998)

1901–present[edit]

• 1903 – Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-French author and translator (d. 1951)
• 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1980)
• 1905 – Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (d. 1937)^[31]
• 1905 – Rózsa Politzer, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1977)^[32]
• 1906 – Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1908 – Bo Yibo, Chinese general and politician, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 2007)
• 1910 – Marc Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (d. 1984)
• 1912 – Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian rugby player and pilot (d. 1940)
• 1916 – Don Tallon, Australian cricketer (d. 1984)
• 1916 – Raf Vallone, Italian footballer and actor (d. 2002)
• 1918 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Jacqueline Ferrand, French mathematician (d. 2014)
• 1919 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Joe Hunt, American tennis player (d. 1945)^[33]
• 1920 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Annie Castor, American disability and communication disorder advocate (d. 2020)
• 1920 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (d. 1996)^[34]
• 1921 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (d. 2013)^[35]
• 1922 – Tommy Edwards, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 1969)
• 1923 – Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)^[36]
• 1925 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director (d. 2021)^[37]
• 1928 – Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Michiaki Takahashi, Japanese virologist (d. 2013)^[38]
• 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean-French director and screenwriter
• 1929 – Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (d. 2002)^[39]
• 1929 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (d. 1993)
• 1929 – Patricia Routledge, English actress and singer
• 1930 – Roger Craig, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1930 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Ruth Rendell, English author (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Sir Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)^[40]
• 1934 – Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), Australian comedian, actor, and author^[41]
• 1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor^[41]
• 1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, and producer (d. 2021)^[42][43]
• 1941 – Julia McKenzie, English actress, singer, and director
• 1941 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)^[44]
• 1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989)
• 1944 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboard player, and composer^[45]
• 1945 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress^[41]
• 1946 – Shahrnush Parsipur, Iranian-American author and academic
• 1948 – José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2019)
• 1949 – Fred Frith, English guitarist and songwriter^[46]
• 1949 – Dennis Green, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
• 1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pakistani soldier and pilot (d. 1971)
• 1952 – Karin Büttner-Janz, German gymnast and physician
• 1952 – Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech bass player (d. 1991)
• 1954 – Lou Ann Barton, American blues singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Miki Berkovich, Israeli basketball player
• 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress^[41]
• 1955 – Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 – Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
• 1957 – Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, and pianist
• 1959 – Aryeh Deri, Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and politician, Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs
• 1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster^[47]
• 1960 – Lindy Ruff, Canadian hockey player and coach
• 1961 – Angela Eagle, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
• 1961 – Maria Eagle, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
• 1961 – Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, historian, and sociologist
• 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director^[41]
• 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor
• 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (d. 1995)^[48]
• 1963 – Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
• 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player and actor^[41]
• 1964 – Sherry Hawco, Canadian gymnast (d. 1991)^[49]
• 1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer^[50]
• 1965 – Danny Lee, Australian rugby league player
• 1966 – Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and actor^[51]
• 1968 – Wu'erkaixi, Chinese journalist and activist
• 1968 – Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
• 1969 – David Douillet, French martial artist and politician
• 1969 – Vasily Kudinov, Russian handball player (d. 2017)
• 1970 – Dominic Purcell, English-born Irish-Australian actor and producer
• 1971 – Denise Richards, American model and actress^[41]
• 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer (Green Day)
• 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater^[52]
• 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and drummer (Foo Fighters) (d. 2022)^[53]
• 1972 – Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model and businesswoman
• 1972 – Lars-Göran Petrov, Swedish singer and drummer (d. 2021)
• 1973 – Goran Bunjevčević, Serbian FR Yugoslavia international footballer (d. 2018)^[54]
• 1973 – Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
• 1974 – Kaoru, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1974 – Jerry O'Connell, American actor, director, and producer
• 1975 – Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
• 1978 – Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright
• 1980 – Al Harrington, American basketball player
• 1980 – Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
• 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer^[41]
• 1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman^[41]
• 1981 – Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
• 1982 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 – Brian Bruney, American baseball player^[55]
• 1983 – Kevin Rudolf, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1984 – AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
• 1984 – Katie Hill, Australian 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player
• 1984 – Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player
• 1985 – Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
• 1988 – Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer^[56]
• 1989 – Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer
• 1990 – Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater
• 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer^[41]
• 1993 – Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
• 1993 – Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1997 – Madison Keys, American tennis player^[57]