Date·Lore

On This Day · The 229th day of the year

August 17

From 986 to 2008, August 17 gathers 1,022 years of history. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus

Leo is the sign for August 17 — read more on the Leo page, or see August's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on August 17?

August 17 is the 229th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 986 and 2008. Famous people born on August 17 include William Gallas, Margaret Hamilton (software engineer) and Willem Duys.

Released on August 17

Movies, games, albums & shows

2023

  • Game Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

2022

  • Game Kirby's Dream Buffet

2021

  • Game Humankind

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 986

    Byzantine–Bulgarian wars

  2. 1668

    1668 North Anatolia earthquake

  3. 1883

    Dominican Republic

  4. 1907

    Pike Place Market

  5. 1914

    World War I

  6. 1915

    1915 Galveston hurricane

  7. 1942

    World War II

  8. 1945

    Animal Farm

  9. 1950

    Korean War

  10. 2008

    Michael Phelps

Famous birthday twins

Born on August 17

William Gallas

b. 1977

Margaret Hamilton (software engineer)

b. 1936

Willem Duys

b. 1928

Jiang Zemin

b. 1926

Dani Güiza

b. 1980

Robert De Niro

b. 1943

Herta Müller

b. 1953

Sean Penn

b. 1960

Deaths

  • 2012Patrick Ricard (entrepreneur)
  • 2010Francesco Cossiga
  • 1971Wilhelm List
  • 1969Otto Stern
  • 1786Frederick the Great
  • 1676Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Saint Beatrice of Silva
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Clare of Montefalco
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Hyacinth of Poland
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Jeanne Delanoue
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Mammes of Caesarea
  • —Christian feast day: Samuel Johnson, Timothy Cutler, and Thomas Bradbury Chandler (Episcopal Church)
  • —Christian feast day: August 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Engineer's Day (Colombia)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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