On this day: 17 January
Events, births and deaths on 17 January. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Denis Law
- Deaths · Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat
- Deaths · Didier Guillaume
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Blowfly
100 years ago1926
- Births · Moira Shearer
- Births · Clyde Walcott
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1041 · Deaths · Mas'ud I
Events · 17
- 395(Julian date)Byzantine Empire — Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
- 395(Julian date)Western Roman Empire — independently administered western provinces of the Roman Empire
- 1781Battle of Cowpens — 1781 battle
- 1852South African Republic — independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa between 1856–1902
- 1873First Battle of the Stronghold — 1873 battle
- 1885Battle of Abu Klea — 1885 battle of the Mahdist War
- 1893Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom — overthrow of government
- 1920prohibition in the United States — constitutional ban on alcoholic beverages
- 1944Battle of Monte Cassino — 1944 assaults by the Allies against the Winter Line in Italy held by Axis forces during the Italian Campaign of World War II
- 1948Renville Agreement — 1948 UN-brokered Dutch–Indonesian ceasefire
- 19661966 Palomares B-52 crash — aviation accident
- 1989Stockton schoolyard shooting — January 1989 school shooting in Stockton, California, USA
- 19941994 Northridge earthquake — earthquake
- 1995Great Hanshin Earthquake — 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan
- 1999Hi-Tek incident — 1999 controversy and protests in Little Saigon, California
- 2008British Airways Flight 38 — aviation incident at London Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2008
- 20262026 Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42 crash — flight accident that lost contact and crashed on Mount Bulusaraung, South Sulawesi, on 17 January 2026
Births · 60
- 1342(Julian date)Philip the Bold — Duke of Burgundy (1342-1404)
- 1429(Julian date)Antonio del Pollaiuolo — Italian painter, sculptor and engraver (1429-1498)
- 1463(Julian date)Frederick III of Saxony — Elector and Duke of Saxony (1463-1525)
- 1504(Julian date)Pius V — 16th‑century Italian pope and Catholic saint, leading Counter‑Reformation reformer
- 1600Pedro Calderón de la Barca — Spanish dramatist (1600-1681)
- 1706Benjamin Franklin — American polymath and statesman (1706–1790)
- 1732Stanisław August Poniatowski — King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1764-1795)
- 1820
- 1834August Weismann — German evolutionary biologist (1834-1914)
- 1860Douglas Hyde — first President of Ireland; historian, poet, and folklorist (1860-1949)
- 1863David Lloyd George — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922
- 1863Constantine Stanislavsky — Russian actor and theatre director (1863–1938)
- 1871Nicolae Iorga — Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright (1871-1940)
- 1880Mack Sennett — Canadian-American actor, producer and director (1880–1960)
- 1899Al Capone — American gangster (1899–1947)
- 1899Nevil Shute — British writer and engineer (1899–1960)
- 1905Guillermo Stábile — Argentine football player and manager
- 1911George Stigler — American economist (1911–1991)
- 1917M. G. Ramachandran — film actor, chief minister of Tamil Nadu (1917 – 1987)
- 1922Betty White — American actress and comedian (1922–2021)
- 1922Luis Echeverría — 57th President of Mexico
- 1927Eartha Kitt — American singer and actress (1927–2008)
- 1931James Earl Jones — American actor (1931–2024)
- 1933Dalida — Egyptian-French singer and actress (1933-1987)
- 1937Alain Badiou — French writer and philosopher
Deaths · 60
- 395(Julian date)Theodosius I — Roman emperor from 379 to 395
- 1041Mas'ud I — Ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire
- 1156(Julian date)André de Montbard — Grand Master of the Knights Templar
- 1168(Julian date)Thierry of Lorraine, Count of Flanders — Count of Flanders (1100-1168)
- 1229(Julian date)Albert of Riga — bishop (1160s–1229)
- 1369(Julian date)Peter I of Cyprus — King of Cyprus and King of Armenia
- 1468Skanderbeg — Albanian noble and military commander (1405–1468)
- 1705John Ray — British botanist (1627–1705)
- 1736Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann — German architect
- 1738Jean-François Dandrieu — French composer
- 1751Tomaso Albinoni — Italian composer and violinist (1671–1751)
- 1826Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga — Spanish composer
- 1834Giovanni Aldini — Italian physicist (1762-1834)
- 1861Lola Montez — Irish dancer and actress (1821–1861)
- 1863Horace Vernet — French painter (1789–1863)
- 1884Hermann Schlegel — German ornithologist and herpetologist (1804-1884)
- 1891
- 1893Rutherford B. Hayes — president of the United States from 1877 to 1881 (1822-1893)
- 1908Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany — Grand Duke of Tuscany (1835-1908)
- 1911Francis Galton — British eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist (1822–1911)
- 1927Juliette Gordon Low — founder of the Girl Scouts (1860–1927)
- 1930Gauhar Jaan — Indian singer and dancer (1873-1930)
- 1931Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia — Russian grand duke (1864–1931); second and youngest son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich the Elder and Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg
- 1933Louis Comfort Tiffany — American stained glass and jewelry designer (1848-1933)
- 1936Mateiu Caragiale — poet, short story writer, novelist, visual artist, heraldist, civil servant (1885-1936)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.