Born on January 17
January 17 birthdays & history
If you were born on January 17, you share a birthday with Benjamin Franklin, Muhammad Ali and Michelle Obama. January 17 babies are Capricorn, with garnet as their birthstone and the carnation as their birth flower. January 17 is the 17th day of the year in leap years.
Famous people born on January 17
- 1706Benjamin Franklin, American publisher, inventor, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania
- 1942Muhammad Ali, American boxer and activist
- 1964Michelle Obama, American lawyer and activist, 44th First Lady of the United States
- 1962Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer
- 1600Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright and poet
- 1820Anne Brontë, English author and poet
- 1504Pope Pius V, Head of the Catholic Church from 1566 to 1572
- 1863Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director
- 1922Betty White, American actress, game show panelist, television personality, and animal rights activist
- 1927Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer
What happened on January 17
- 38 BCOctavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
- 1377Gregory XI, the last Avignon pope, entered Rome after a four-month journey from Avignon, returning the papacy to its original city.
- 1524Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
- 1852The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.
- 1899The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1903El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
- 1904Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
- 1912Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition reached the South Pole, only to find that Roald Amundsen's team had beaten them by 33 days.
- 1917The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
- 1946The UN Security Council holds its first session.
- 1996The Czech Republic applies for membership in the European Union.
- 2017The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is announced to be suspended.
Also observed on January 17
- National Day (Menorca, Spain)
- The opening ceremony of Patras Carnival, celebrated until Clean Monday. (Patras, Greece)
Questions, answered
What star sign is January 17?
People born on January 17 are Capricorn. Their birthstone is garnet and their birth flower is the carnation.
Which famous people were born on January 17?
Benjamin Franklin (1706), Muhammad Ali (1942), Michelle Obama (1964), Jim Carrey (1962), Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600), Anne Brontë (1820) were all born on January 17.
What happened on January 17 in history?
Among other things: in 1946, The UN Security Council holds its first session; in 1996, The Czech Republic applies for membership in the European Union; in 2017, The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is announced to be suspended.
Can I get a newspaper front page from January 17?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any January 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, “January 17”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.