Famous people born on 17 August

• Mae WestAmerican actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer · 1893–1980
  87 yrs
• V. S. NaipaulTrinidadian-British writer · 1932–2018
  85 yrs
• Jiang ZeminFormer General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party · 1926–2022
  96 yrs
• John III SobieskiKing of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania · 1629–1696
  66 yrs
• Mikhail BotvinnikSoviet chess player · 1911–1995
  83 yrs
• Charles I of AustriaLast monarch of Austria-Hungary · 1887–1922
  34 yrs
• Marcus Garvey ↗Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur · 1887–1940
  52 yrs
• Elizabeth Báthory ↗Hungarian countess · 1560–1614
  54 yrs
• Maureen O'Hara ↗Irish–American actress and singer · 1920–2015
  95 yrs
• Ted Hughes ↗English poet and children's writer · 1930–1998
  68 yrs
• Menilek II ↗Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Shewa · 1844–1913
  69 yrs
• Henry V ↗King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty · 1086–1125
  38 yrs
• Davy Crockett ↗American frontiersman and politician · 1786–1836
  49 yrs
• Samuel Goldwyn ↗Polish-American film producer · 1882–1974
  91 yrs
• John of Bohemia ↗King of Bohemia · 1296–1346
  50 yrs
• Helen McCrory ↗British actress · 1968–2021
  52 yrs
• Muslim Magomayev ↗Soviet-Azerbaijani singer · 1942–2008
  66 yrs
• Fredrika Bremer ↗Swedish writer and feminist · 1801–1865
  64 yrs
• James II of Aragon ↗King of Aragon and Valencia, Count of Barcelona and King of Sicily · 1267–1327
  60 yrs
• Marcelo Caetano ↗Portuguese politician · 1906–1980
  74 yrs
• William Carey ↗English Baptist missionary and Particular Baptist minister · 1761–1834
  72 yrs
• Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld ↗German princess · 1786–1861
  74 yrs
• Francis Gary Powers ↗American pilot shot down flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union · 1929–1977
  47 yrs
• Jihadi John ↗British terrorist and murderer · 1988–2015
  27 yrs
• Josef Dobrovský ↗Czech historian, lexicographer, linguist, literature historian, religion writer, science writer and roman catholic priest · 1753–1829
  75 yrs
• Leslie Groves ↗United States Army Corps of Engineers officer · 1896–1970
  73 yrs
• Muhammad Shah ↗12th Mughal Emperor from 1719 to 1748 · 1702–1747
  44 yrs
• David Koresh ↗American religious sect leader of Branch Davidians · 1959–1993
  33 yrs
• Charles Cooley ↗American sociologist · 1864–1929
  64 yrs

Only people with a known day of birth are listed, and only people who have died. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.

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