Explore 1917 historical events from 2000–2009.
Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess grandmaster and chess prodigy. In 2018, he passed the Elo rating of 2600 at 14 years old, which at the time made him the third youngest player in his…
Nihal Sarin, Indian Chess Grandmaster
Noah Clowney is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson …
Noah Clowney, American basketball player
Amiah Miller is an American actress and model. She starred in the 2017 film War for the Planet of the Apes. She also appears in the TV series Henry Danger, Best Friends Whenever, M…
Amiah Miller, American actress and model
Edmond Pidoux was a Swiss author who wrote numerous poems, novels, and essays. He was particularly renowned for Biblical pieces such as L'histoire de Jonas. In 1982, he won the Pri…
Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (born 1908)
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, was a Fijian politician who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief…
Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (born 1920)
Jenny Pike was a Canadian photographer and servicewoman. She worked in London during WWII, and was the only female photographer to help develop the first photos of the D-Day landin…
Jenny Pike, Canadian WWII servicewoman and photographer (born 1922)
Martine-Elisabeth Mercier Descloux was a French musician, singer-songwriter, and composer associated with New York City's late 1970s no wave music scene. She recorded several album…
Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (born 1956)
Herman Alex Veenstra was a Dutch water polo player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Dutch team which finished fifth in the 1936 tournament. He played fi…
Herman Veenstra, Dutch water polo player (born 1911)
Norris Dewar McWhirter was a British writer, right-wing political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother Ross were kno…
Norris McWhirter, English author and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (born 1925)
John Maynard Smith was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a seco…
John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (born 1920)
Joseph Damiani, known by the pen name José Giovanni, was a French-Swiss writer, filmmaker, and a convicted criminal. He was known for his realistic, gritty crime novels which drew …
José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and producer (born 1923)
Estée Lauder was an American businesswoman. She co-founded her eponymous cosmetics company with her husband, Joseph Lauter. Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's 1998 list o…
Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founded Estée Lauder Companies (born 1906)
Thomson William "Thom" Gunn was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, where h…
Thom Gunn, English-American poet and academic (born 1929)
Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. was an American novelist. Two of his books, Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and Requiem for a Dream (1978), were adapted into films, both of which he appeared…
Hubert Selby, Jr
John Patrick Edward Chandos Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker, known as Sir John Henniker-Major from 1965 to 1980, was a British peer, civil servant, and diplomat.
John Henniker-Major, British diplomat and civil servant (born 1916)
Kenneth Henry Downing was a British racing driver. From a wealthy family connected to G.H. Downing & Co., he began racing as a privateer in the late 1940s, and with Connaught in 19…
Ken Downing, English race car driver (born 1917)
Darrell Dean Johnson was an American professional catcher, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American Lea…
Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1928)
David Reimer was a Canadian boy raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy.
David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (born 196
Eliza "Virginia" Capers was an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1974 for her performance as Lena Younger in Raisin, a musical version …
Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (born 1925)
Philip Kapleau was an American Zen Buddhist teacher. He trained in the Harada–Yasutani tradition, which is rooted in Japanese Sōtō and incorporates Rinzai-school koan study. He est…
Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (born 1912)
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups…
Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (born 1923)
Waldemar Milewicz was a Polish journalist and war correspondent.
Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (born 1956)
Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov was a Russian politician and revolutionary who served as Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the F…
Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic (born 1951)
Alan King was an American comedian, actor and satirist known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of films and te…
Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1927)