Did you know
Jim Courier also won five Masters titles and was part of the victorious United States Davis Cup teams in 1992 and 1995.
Famous Birthdays on August 17
1970 — Jim Courier
American tennis player and sportscaster
August 17 has 219 recorded notable births across history, from 1153 to 2003. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
219 source records
1153 – 2003
Leo
Today in history
Major events on August 17
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1943 World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins. Source
- 1970 Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus). Source
- 1958 Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country. Source
- 1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire. Source
Did you know
Guillermo Vilas won 62 singles titles and 16 doubles titles during his career, including four Grand Slam singles titles and the 1974 Tour Finals.
Did you know
Roosevelt was appointed as the first chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1965 to 1966 by President Lyndon B.
Did you know
606 slugging percentage and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1970.
Did you know
Antwaan Randle El played college football as a quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers, earning first-team All-American honors in 2001.
More major people born on August 17
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1952
Guillermo Vilas
Argentinian tennis player
Guillermo Vilas is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was the world No. 1 of the ITF Grand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977.
1914
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.
American lawyer and politician (died 1988)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman.
1941
Boog Powell
American baseball player
John Wesley "Boog" Powell is an American former professional baseball player.
1979
Antwaan Randle El
American football player and journalist
Antwaan Randle El is an American professional football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).
1939
Luther Allison
American blues guitarist and singer (died 1997)
Luther Sylvester Allison was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas.
1888
Pieter van der Hoog
Dutch bacteriologist, dermatologist, and Islamicist (died 1957)
Pieter Henricus van der Hoog, also known after converting to Islam as Mohammed Abdul-Ali, was a Dutch bacteriologist, dermatologist, and Islamicist.
1993
Xie Zhenye
Chinese athlete
Xie Zhenye is a Chinese sprinter. He is the current Asian record holder of the 200 metres with a time of 19.88 seconds.
1992
Maru Teferi
Israeli marathon runner
Maru Abinet Teferi, also known as Teferi Marhu, is an Israeli marathon and half marathon runner, and an Olympian.
1964
Dave Penney
English footballer and manager
David Mark Penney is an English football manager and former player. Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Penney entered professional football at the relatively late age of 21.
1894
William Rootes
1st Baron Rootes, English businessman, founded Rootes Group (died 1964)
William Edward Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes GBE was a British motor manufacturer. He opened his first car sales agency in 1913, leading to the global Rootes Group.
1911
Martin Sandberger
German colonel and lawyer (died 2010)
Karl Martin Sandberger was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era and a convicted Holocaust perpetrator.
1946
Patrick Manning
Trinidadian-Tobagonian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (died 2016)
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago twice from 1991 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2010.
1943
Robert De Niro
American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer
Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation, he has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards and a…
1957
Robin Cousins
British competitive figure skater
Robin John Cousins is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980.
1963
Jackie Walorski
American politician (died 2022)
Jacqueline Renae Walorski was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2013 until her death in 2022. She was a member of the Republican Party.
1887
Charles I of Austria (died 1922)
Charles I and IV was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from November 1916 until the monarchy was abolished in November 1918.
1988
Joyner Lucas
American rapper
Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas Jr. is an American rapper. Lucas first gained exposure online with his 2015 single "Ross Capicchioni".
1934
João Donato
Brazilian pianist and composer (died 2023)
João Donato de Oliveira Neto was a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova pianist as well as a trombonist from Rio Branco.
1956
Álvaro Pino
Spanish cyclist
Álvaro Pino Couñago is a former professional road racing cyclist from Galicia who raced between 1981 through 1991 and is most famous for winning the overall title at the 1986 Vuelta a España over favorites Robert Millar…