Anniversaries 17 January
Birth
British mathematician and astrologer
1574–1637
Spanish dramatist
1600–1681
French Roman Catholic priest
1622–1700
American author, printer, political theorist, politician, p…
1706–1790
British politician
1709–1773
American novelist, historian and editor
1771–1810
Scottish historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure
1776–1850
Self-proclaimed Emperor of the United States
1811–1880
British novelist and poet
1820–1849
American bishop
1834–1910
Russian dramatist, author and physician
1860–1904
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1863–1945
Royal Navy officer
1871–1936
Mayor of Jersey City
1876–1956
Scottish writer, cultural commentator, raconteur and nation…
1883–1972
British novelist
1886–1926
American historian
1891–1958
American academic
1892–1993
American gangster
1899–1947
British racing driver
1899–1960
philosopher and university president
1899–1977
American economist
1911–1991
British barrister and politician
1918–1994
American author, columnist and reporter
1925–2000
United States attorney and former chairman of the Federal C…
1926
American physician
1927–1961
Canadian ice hockey player
1929–1986
French singer, actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder
1933–1987
French writer and philosopher
1937
American novelist, primarily speculative fiction for childr…
1938–1991
Hong Kong politician
1940
African American boxer, philanthropist and activist
1942–2016
President of Haiti
1943–2017
American stand-up comedian and actor
1949–1984
Mauritian politician
1951
Solomon Islands politician
1955
Palestinian politician
1958
Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer
1962
American author, journalist and documentarian
1962
lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady …
1964
A Chinese lawyer and activist known for being a prominent m…
1965
Jamaican dancehall musician
1966
American television writer, director, and producer
1966
Dutch DJ and record producer
1969
American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter
1980
Death
Christian saint, monk, and hermit
251–357
Philosopher in 10th century Central Asia
872–951
British botanist
1627–1705
English churchman, writer and university administrator
1730–1792
American socialite and women letter writer
1743–1830
American historian and statesman
1800–1891
American politician, 19th President of the United States (i…
1822–1893
British polymath: geographer, statistician, pioneer in euge…
1822–1911
English poet and essayist
1843–1901
American stained glass and jewelry designer
1848–1933
American mathematician
1874–1954
writer from the USA
1896–1972
American historian
1903–1987
French supercentenarian; world's second oldest living person
1904–2023
former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
1919–2005
journalist, humorist, United States Marine
1925–2007
Congolese Prime Minister, cold war leader, executed
1925–1961
British paleontologist
1930–2013
American writer
1930–2001
American writer
1935–2019
American politician
1936–1996
American poet and author
1937–2016
American writer
1937–2010
American writer
1940–2019
American murderer; the first person executed in the United …
1940–1977
American chess prodigy, chess player, and chess writer
1943–2008
Ukrainian Catholic bishop in the United States
1944–2023