Anniversaries 17 April

Birth

John Ford (dramatist)33

dramatist 1586–1639

Marguerite Bourgeoys6

French colonist and foundress 1620–1700

Henry Vaughan23

Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet 1621–1695

Robert Blair9

British writer 1699–1746

Archibald Alexander1

American theologian 1772–1851

Eliza Acton3

Poet, cook 1799–1859

Alexander II of Russia2

Emperor of Russia 1818–1881

J. P. Morgan6

American financier, banker, philanthropist and art collector 1837–1913

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker50

American journalist and anarchist 1854–1939

Artur Schnabel5

Austrian pianist 1882–1951

Karen Blixen67

Danish writer 1885–1962

George Adamski25

American ufologist 1891–1965

Emanuel Moravec1

Czech military officer, writer, and politician 1893–1945

Thornton Wilder61

American playwright and novelist 1897–1975

Nisargadatta Maharaj138

Indian guru 1897–1981

Miss Read1

English novelist 1913–2012

Frank Popper4

French art historian 1918

Donald Richie1

American writer 1924–2013

Whitney Balliett1

American jazz critic 1926–2007

Chandra Shekhar16

Indian politician 1927–2007

Cynthia Ozick4

American writer 1928

Karen Demirchyan5

Soviet politician 1932–1999

Agostino Vallini1

Catholic cardinal 1940

Robert Kuttner23

American journalist 1943

Richard Epstein4

American legal scholar 1943

John Gray164

British philosopher 1948

Beverly Lewis4

American writer 1949

Diederik Aerts11

Belgian theoretical physicist 1953

Catherine Ryan Hyde8

American writer 1955

Jan Zaanen1

Dutch physicist 1957

Nick Hornby110

English novelist 1957

Afrika Bambaataa2

American DJ, record producer and activist 1957

Rachel Notley2

17th Premier of Alberta 1964

Maynard James Keenan12

musician 1964

Kimberly Elise1

actress 1967

Liz Phair4

American musician 1967

Loung Ung2

American academic 1970

Jennifer Garner2

American actress 1972

Victoria Beckham4

English businesswoman, fashion designer and singer 1974

Eduard Kava1

Ukrainian Roman Catholic Bishop 1978

Sandra Fluke40

American women's rights activist and lawyer 1981

Death

Proclus18

Greek philosopher 412–485

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné5

French noble 1626–1696

Juana Inés de la Cruz2

Nun, scholar and poet in New Spain 1651–1695

Benjamin Franklin183

American author, printer, political theorist, politician, p… 1706–1790

Thomas Gold Appleton1

American artist 1812–1884

Alexander Mackenzie35

2nd Prime Minister of Canada 1822–1892

Lucy Larcom25

American teacher, poet, author 1824–1893

Patrick Geddes1

British scientist and town planner 1854–1932

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan84

Indian philosopher and statesman who was the first Vice Pre… 1888–1975

Mark W. Clark23

American general 1896–1984

Louise Nevelson1

American sculptor 1899–1988

Basil Bunting11

Poet 1900–1985

Piet Hein37

Danish puzzle designer, mathematician, author, poet 1905–1996

Arthur Calder-Marshall3

English novelist, essayist, critic, memoirist and biographer 1908–1992

Aimé Césaire10

Martiniquais politician 1913–2008

Roger Wolcott Sperry32

American neuroscientist 1913–1994

Arthur Hertzberg1

American rabbi and historian 1921–2006

Albert Messiah1

French physicist 1921–2013

Barbara Bush11

former First Lady of the United States 1925–2018

John T. Noonan Jr.3

United States federal judge 1926–2017

Ralph Abernathy2

American Civil Rights Movement leader 1926–1990

Turgut Özal5

Turkish politician 1927–1993

Gabriel García Márquez218

Colombian writer 1927–2014

Francis George7

Catholic cardinal 1937–2015

Linda McCartney3

American photographer 1941–1998

Alan García2

Peruvian politician 1949–2019