Born on February 17
February 17 birthdays & history
If you were born on February 17, you share a birthday with Michael Jordan, Paris Hilton and Mo Yan. February 17 babies are Aquarius, with amethyst as their birthstone and the violet as their birth flower. February 17 is the 48th day of the year in leap years.
Famous people born on February 17
- 1963Michael Jordan, American basketball player, executive, and businessman
- 1981Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman
- 1955Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1991Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1925Hal Holbrook, American actor and director
- 1888Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1836Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright
- 1972Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
- 1981Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
- 1963Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
What happened on February 17
- 1801United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
- 1819The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
- 1854The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
- 1894Rudolf Diesel's first working diesel engine ran for one minute.
- 1904Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala in Milan to poor reviews, forcing him to revise the opera.
- 1949Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
- 1964In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
- 1965Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
- 1972Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
- 1980First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
- 1996In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
- 1996NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
Also observed on February 17
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still partially recognized.
- Revolution Day (Libya)
Questions, answered
What star sign is February 17?
People born on February 17 are Aquarius. Their birthstone is amethyst and their birth flower is the violet.
Which famous people were born on February 17?
Michael Jordan (1963), Paris Hilton (1981), Mo Yan (1955), Ed Sheeran (1991), Hal Holbrook (1925), Otto Stern (1888) were all born on February 17.
What happened on February 17 in history?
Among other things: in 1980, First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy; in 1996, In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match; in 1996, NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
Can I get a newspaper front page from February 17?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any February 17 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “February 17”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.