What happened on June 17 ?

1239 - King Edward I of England (d. 1307)

1603 - Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663)

1682 - King Charles XII of Sweden (d. 1718)

1691 - Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)

1693 - Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (d. 1775)

1703 - John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (d. 1791)

1704 - John Kay, English inventor (d. 1780)

1714 - Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762)

1714 - César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (d. 1784)

1718 - George Howard, British field marshal (d. 1796)

1742 - William Hooper, American signer of the Declaration of Independence

1808 - Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian author (d. 1845)

1810 - Ferdinand Freiligrath, German writer (d. 1876)

1811 - Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter (d. 1879)

1818 - Charles Gounod, French composer (d. 1893)

1832 - Sir William Crookes, English physicist and chemist (d. 1919)

1839 - Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted for ritualist activities (d. 1931)

1867 - John Robert Gregg, inventor of shorthand system (d. 1948)

1881 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (d. 1955)

1882 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (d. 1971)

1888 - Heinz Guderian, German General (d. 1954)

1898 - M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (d. 1972)

1898 - Carl Hermann, German physicist (d. 1961)

1900 - Martin Bormann, Nazi official (d. 1945)

1902 - Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (d. 1989)

1904 - Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)

1907 - Charles Eames, American designer and architect (d. 1978)

1909 - Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)

1910 - Red Foley, American musician (d. 1968)

1910 - George Hees, Canadian politician (d. 1996)

1914 - John Hersey, American author (d. 1993)

1915 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (d. 1996)

1915 - David "Stringbean" Akeman, American banjo player and actor (d. 1973)

1917 - Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician

1920 - François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1923 - Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)

1927 - Martin Böttcher, German conductor

1929 - Tigran Petrosian, Georgian chess player (d. 1984)

1930 - Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)

1933 - Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)

1933 - Harry Browne, American free-market libertarian writer, politician, and investment analyst (d. 2006)

1940 - George Akerlof, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate

1942 - Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian International Atomic Energy Agency director, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

1943 - Newt Gingrich, American politician

1945 - Tommy Franks, American General

1945 - Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

1945 - Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist

1945 - Anupam Kher, Indian actor

1945 - Frank Ashmore, American actor

1946 - Peter Rosei, Austrian writer

1946 - Barry Manilow, American musician

1957 - Jon Gries, American actor

1958 - Jello Biafra, American musician and activist

1960 - Michael Monroe, Finnish singer (Hanoi Rocks)

1963 - Greg Kinnear, American actor

1964 - Michael Gross, German swimmer

1964 - Rinaldo Capello, Italian racing driver

1965 - Dermontti Dawson, American football, center

1966 - Jason Patric, American actor

1969 - Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete

1970 - Jason Hanson, American football player

1970 - Sasha Sokol, Mexican singer and actress

1970 - Will Forte, American writer, actor and comedian

1971 - Bif Naked, Canadian punk rock musician

1971 - Paulina Rubio, Mexican singer

1975 - Joshua Leonard, American actor, famous for his role in the Blair Witch Project

1975 - Chloe Jones, American actor (d. 2005)

1977 - Mark Tauscher, National Football League player

1977 - Branko Tomovic, Serbian actor

1978 - Kumiko Aso, Japanese actress

1979 - Nick Rimando, American soccer player

1980 - Kimeru, Japanese singer

1980 - Venus Williams, American tennis player

1982 - Will Allen, American football player

1983 - Lee Ryan, singer - formally of British boyband Blue

1983 - Kazunari Ninomiya, Japanese singer in a group called Arashi.

1985 - Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot professional tennis player.

1987 - Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer (W (Double You), Morning Musume, and MiniMoni)

1987 - An?ej De?an, Slovene singer