February 17 birthdays, facts & history
Everything about being born on February 17, from your sign and birth stone to who shares your birthday.
Zodiac sign
♒︎ Aquarius
Jan 20 – Feb 18
Birth stone
Amethyst
Birth flower
Violet
How common
#319 of 366
by US birth counts
Famous February 17 birthdays
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer · Spanish poet1836
Otto Stern · German-American physicist1888
Hans Morgenthau · American political scientist1904
Arthur Kennedy · American actor1914
Hal Holbrook · American actor1925
Jim Brown · American football player and actor1936
Rene Russo · American actress and model1954
Mo Yan · Chinese novelist and screenwriter1955
Michael Jordan · American basketball player and businessman1963
Larry the Cable Guy · American stand-up comedian1963
Jensen Huang · American entrepreneur and businessman1963
Michael Bay · American film director and producer1965
Denise Richards · American actress1971
Billie Joe Armstrong · American rock musician1972
Ralphie May · American stand-up comedian1972
Taylor Hawkins · American drummer1972
Paris Hilton · American media personality1981
Joseph Gordon-Levitt · American actor and filmmaker1981
Ed Sheeran · English singer-songwriter1991
Madison Keys · US American tennis player1995
On this day in history
1815The United States ratifies the Treaty of Ghent – signed in late 1814 – formally ending the War of 1812.
1913The Armory Show (commemorative button pictured), the first large modern-art exhibition in the United States, opened at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City.
1964Gabonese military officers overthrew President Léon M'ba, but French forces, honouring a 1960 treaty, forcibly reinstated him two days later.
1974A U.S. Army soldier stole a Bell UH-1 helicopter and landed it on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
1944World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
1949Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
1959Vanguard 2 (model pictured), the first weather satellite, was launched to measure cloud cover distribution.
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.
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