Famous people born on August 17 — and what else happened that day
If your birthday is August 17, you share it with Davy Crockett, Mae West, Robert De Niro — and you were born under Leo, the sign of the warm, confident, and born for the spotlight.
Birthday basics for August 17
Leo ♌
Zodiac sign
Peridot
Birthstone
Gladiolus
Birth flower
229th
Day of the year
August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years), with 136 days still to come.
Famous people born on August 17
Davy Crockett — American frontiersman and folk hero known as the King of the Wild Frontier (born 1786).
Mae West — American actress and comedy icon of Hollywood's golden age (born 1893).
Robert De Niro — American actor and two-time Academy Award winner (born 1943).
Also sharing the day:
Maureen O'Hara (b. 1920) — Irish-American actress of The Quiet Man and Miracle on 34th Street.
Sean Penn (b. 1960) — American actor with Oscars for Mystic River and Milk.
Thierry Henry (b. 1977) — French soccer great and World Cup champion.
August 17 in history
1807 — Robert Fulton's steamboat began its first voyage up the Hudson River from New York to Albany.
1908 — Fantasmagorie, considered the first fully animated cartoon, premiered in Paris.
1978 — The balloon Double Eagle II completed the first transatlantic balloon flight.
1945 — Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed the independence of Indonesia.
1958 — Pioneer 0, America's first attempted Moon mission, launched from Cape Canaveral.
1970 — The Soviet Union launched Venera 7, which became the first spacecraft to land successfully on another planet.
August 17 birthday questions
What zodiac sign is August 17?
Anyone born on August 17 is a Leo — warm, confident, and born for the spotlight.
What is the birthstone for August 17?
The birthstone for a August 17 birthday is Peridot, and the birth flower is the Gladiolus.
Who is the most famous person born on August 17?
Davy Crockett is among the best known — American frontiersman and folk hero known as the King of the Wild Frontier (born 1786).
What happened on August 17?
In 1807, Robert Fulton's steamboat began its first voyage up the Hudson River from New York to Albany.
What day of the year is August 17?
August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years), with 136 days still to come.
Make their day unforgettable
Know someone born on August 17? See the full story of their exact birthday — the headlines, the #1 song, what things cost — and turn it into a personalized front-page newspaper they can keep.