October 17

Pre-1600

 * 690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.
 * 1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.
 * 1346 – The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years.
 * 1448 – An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo.
 * 1456 – The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe.
 * 1534 – Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass.
 * 1558 – Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded.

1601–1900

 * 1604 – Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
 * 1610 – French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral.
 * 1660 – The nine regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered.
 * 1662 – Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV of France for 40,000 pounds.
 * 1713 – Great Northern War: Russia defeats Sweden in the Battle of Kostianvirta in Pälkäne.
 * 1771 – Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15.
 * 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.
 * 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
 * 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.
 * 1806 – Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule.
 * 1811 – The silver deposits of Agua Amarga are discovered in Chile becoming in the following years instrumental for the Patriots to finance the Chilean War of Independence.
 * 1814 – Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.
 * 1850 – Riots start, which lead to a massacre in Aleppo.
 * 1860 – First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).
 * 1861 – Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.

1901–present

 * 1907 – Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service.
 * 1912 – Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.
 * 1919 – Leeds United F.C. founded at Salem Chapel, Holbeck after the winding up of Leeds City F.C. for making illegal payments to players during World War I
 * 1931 – Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.
 * 1933 – Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
 * 1940 – The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg is found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.
 * 1941 – World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat.
 * 1943 – The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed.
 * 1943  – Nazi Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.
 * 1945 – A large demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, demands Juan Perón's release.
 * 1952 – Indonesian Army elements surrounded the Merdeka Palace demanding President Sukarno disband the Provisional People's Representative Council.
 * 1956 – The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.
 * 1961 – Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters.
 * 1961 – The first attempt of the apartheid analogy by Ahmad Shukeiri.
 * 1965 – The 1964–65 New York World's Fair closes after two years and more than 51 million attendees.
 * 1966 – The 23rd Street Fire in New York City kills 12 firefighters.
 * 1969 – The Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence is stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo.
 * 1970 – FLQ terrorists murder Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte.
 * 1973 – OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
 * 1977 – The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.
 * 1979 – Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
 * 1979  – The Department of Education Organization Act creates the U.S. Department of Education.
 * 1980 – As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican.
 * 1988 – Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashes at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, in Rome, Italy, killing 33 people.
 * 1989 – The 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63.
 * 1989  – The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.
 * 1991 – Rudrapur bombings by Sikh separatists, who explode two bombs, during a Ramlila Hindu celebration in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, killing 41 people.
 * 1992 – Having gone to the wrong house, Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 * 1994 – Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.
 * 2000 – The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack.
 * 2001 – Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by Hamdi Quran, a member of the PFLP, thus becoming the highest-ranking Israeli to be killed by a Palestinian.
 * 2003 – Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, becomes the world's tallest high-rise.
 * 2004 – A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.
 * 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last foothold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Raqqa, marking the end of the Battle of Raqqa.
 * 2018 – The recreational use of cannabis is legalized in Canada.
 * 2018  – A mass shooting and bombing at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea kills 21 people including the attacker and injures 70 others.
 * 2019 – Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest.
 * 2019  – The 17 October Revolution starts in Lebanon.

Pre-1600

 * 503 – Lý Nam Đế, first emperor of Vietnam (d. 548)
 * 1253 – Ivo of Kermartin, French priest and saint (d. 1303)
 * 1493 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (d. 1560)
 * 1500 – Alonso de Orozco Mena, Spanish Roman Catholic priest (d. 1591)
 * 1538 – Irene di Spilimbergo, Italian Renaissance poet and painter (d. 1559)
 * 1577 – Cristofano Allori, Italian painter (d. 1621)
 * 1577  – Dmitry Pozharsky, Russian prince (d. 1642)
 * 1582 – Johann Gerhard, German theologian and academic (d. 1637)
 * 1587 – Nathan Field, English dramatist and actor (d. 1620)

1601–1900

 * 1623 – Francis Turretin, Swiss-Italian minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1687)
 * 1629 – Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias (d. 1646)
 * 1688 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian missionary and composer (d. 1726)
 * 1711 – Jupiter Hammon, American poet (d. 1806)
 * 1719 – Jacques Cazotte, French author and academic (d. 1792)
 * 1720 – Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini, Italian harpsichord player and composer (d. 1795)
 * 1725 – John Wilkes, English journalist and politician (d. 1797)
 * 1729 – Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, French composer and academic (d. 1817)
 * 1735 – Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Younger, German Baroque artist (d. 1803)
 * 1759 – Andrey Voronikhin, Russian architect and painter (d. 1814)
 * 1760 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, French economist and philosopher (d. 1825)
 * 1768 – Sophie von Dönhoff, morganatic spouse by bigamy to King Frederick William II of Prussia (d. 1838)
 * 1779 – Louis Charles, French prince of the blood (d. 1808)
 * 1779  – José Andrés Pacheco de Melo, Argentine statesman and priest (d. approx. 1820)
 * 1780 – Richard Mentor Johnson, American politician, ninth Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
 * 1781 – Johann Friedrich Meckel, German anatomist (d. 1833)
 * 1784 – Fructuoso Rivera, first president of Uruguay (d. 1854)
 * 1785 – Christen Smith, Norwegian scientist (d. 1816)
 * 1792 – John Bowring, English polyglot and governor of Hong Kong (d. 1826)
 * 1797 – Juan Lavalle, Argentine politician (d. 1841)
 * 1803 – Ferenc Deák, Hungarian politician (d. 1876)
 * 1810 – Adolphe-Félix Cals, French painter (d. 1880)
 * 1811 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-American pastor and educator (d. 1876)
 * 1813 – Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (d. 1837)
 * 1814 – Yakiv Holovatsky, Ukrainian historian, scholar, and poet (d. 1888)
 * 1817 – Syed Ahmad Khan, Indian philosopher and scholar (d. 1898)
 * 1821 – Alexander Gardner, Scottish photographer (d. 1882)
 * 1828 – Aureliano Maestre de San Juan, Spanish scientist (d. 1890)
 * 1833 – José E. Días, Paraguayan general (d. 1867)
 * 1835 – Louis-Léon Cugnot, French sculptor (d. 1894)
 * 1835  – Paul Haenlein, German mechanical engineer (d. 1905)
 * 1840 – André Gill, French caricaturist (d. 1885)
 * 1844 – Gustave Schlumberger, French historian (d. 1929)
 * 1845 – John J. Gardner, American politician (d. 1921)
 * 1853 – Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1920)
 * 1859 – Childe Hassam, American painter and illustrator (d. 1935)
 * 1860 – Henry Campbell Black, founder of Black's Law Dictionary (d. 1927)
 * 1864 – Elinor Glyn, English author, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1943)
 * 1865 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1950)
 * 1867 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Catalan architect who designed the Casa Martí (d. 1956)
 * 1871 – Segundo de Chomón, Spanish cinematographer, director, and screenwriter (d. 1929)
 * 1876 – Hippolyte Aucouturier, French road cyclist (d. 1944)
 * 1878 – Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, Spanish politician and 17th Duke of Alba (d. 1953)
 * 1880 – Jesús Reyes Ferreira, Mexican artist and art collector (d. 1977)
 * 1881 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (d. 1959)
 * 1882 – Haritina Korotkevich, Russian war heroine (d. 1904)
 * 1883 – Alexander Neill, Scottish educator (d. 1973)
 * 1883  – Thaddeus Shideler, American hurdler (d. 1966)
 * 1886 – Spring Byington, American actress (d. 1971)
 * 1889 – Mikha'il Na'ima, Lebanese author (d. 1988)
 * 1890 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer (d. 1928)
 * 1892 – Theodor Eicke, German SS general (d. 1943)
 * 1892  – Herbert Howells, English organist, composer, and educator (d. 1983)
 * 1893 – Raffaele Bendandi, Italian clockmaker and seismologist (d. 1979)
 * 1894 – Prince René, Italian Prince of Denmark (d. 1962)
 * 1894  – Pablo de Rokha, Chilean poet (d. 1968)
 * 1895 – Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, President of Guatemala (1958–1963) (d. 1982)
 * 1895  – Doris Humphrey, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1958)
 * 1896 – Roman Petrovich, Russian prince (d. 1978)
 * 1898 – Shinichi Suzuki, Japanese violinist and educator (d. 1998)
 * 1898  – Eileen Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1991)
 * 1898  – Simon Vestdijk, Dutch author and poet (d. 1971)
 * 1900 – C. C. van Asch van Wijck, Dutch artist and sculptor (d. 1932)
 * 1900  – Jean Arthur, American actress (d. 1991)
 * 1900  – Yvor Winters, American critic and poet (d. 1968)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Emma Gamboa Alvarado, Costa Rican educator (d. 1973)
 * 1902 – Irene Ryan, American actress (d. 1973)
 * 1903 – Andrei Grechko, Soviet general (d. 1976)
 * 1903  – Nathanael West, American author and screenwriter (d. 1940)
 * 1905 – Leopoldo Benites, Ecuadorian diplomat 28th president of the United Nations General Assembly (d. 1996)
 * 1906 – Paul Derringer, American baseball player (d. 1987)
 * 1906  – Andrey Tikhonov, Russian mathematician (d. 1993)
 * 1907 – John Marley, American actor (d. 1984)
 * 1908 – Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (d. 2007)
 * 1908  – Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (d. 1988)
 * 1908  – Wally Prigg, Australian rugby league player (d. 1980)
 * 1908  – Red Rolfe, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1969)
 * 1909 – Cozy Cole, American drummer (d. 1981)
 * 1909  – Leopoldo Panero, Spanish poet (d. 1962)
 * 1909  – Joaquín Satrústegui, Spanish lawyer and politician (d. 1992)
 * 1910 – Marina Núñez del Prado, Bolivian sculptor (d. 1995)
 * 1910  – Ester Wier, American author (d. 2000)
 * 1912 – Pope John Paul I (d. 1978)
 * 1912  – Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (d. 2001)
 * 1912  – Jack Owens, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1982)
 * 1913 – Robert Lowery, American actor (d. 1971)
 * 1913  – Marian Marsh, Trinidadian-American actress and environmentalist (d. 2006)
 * 1913  – Faik Türün, Turkish general (d. 2003)
 * 1914 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator (d. 1996)
 * 1915 – Arthur Miller, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2005)
 * 1916 – José López Rega, Argentinean politician (d. 1989)
 * 1917 – Alfred Benlloch Llorach, Spanish inventor (d. 2013)
 * 1917  – Martin Donnelly, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1999)
 * 1917  – Marsha Hunt, American actress and singer (d. 2022)
 * 1917  – Aimo Koivunen, Finnish soldier and corporal (d. 1989)
 * 1917  – Norman Leyden, American composer and conductor (d. 2014)
 * 1917  – Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-American author and playwright (d. 1991)
 * 1917  – Adele Stimmel Chase, American painter and sculptor (d. 2000)
 * 1918 – Rita Hayworth, American actress, singer and dancer (d. 1987)
 * 1918  – Luis Alberto Solari, Uruguayan artist (d. 1993)
 * 1918  – Ralph Wilson, American businessman, founded the Buffalo Bills (d. 2014)
 * 1919 – Isaak Khalatnikov, Ukrainian-Russian theoretical physicist and academic (d. 2021)
 * 1919  – Violet Milstead, Canadian World War II aviator and bush pilot (d. 2014)
 * 1919  – Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician (d. 2005)
 * 1920 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (d. 1966)
 * 1920  – Miguel Delibes, Spanish journalist and author (d. 2010)
 * 1920  – Zully Moreno, Argentine actress (d. 1999)
 * 1921 – Priscilla Buckley, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
 * 1921  – Maria Gorokhovskaya, Russian-Israeli gymnast (d. 2001)
 * 1921  – George Mackay Brown, Scottish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1996)
 * 1921  – Tom Poston, American actor and comedian (d. 2007)
 * 1922 – Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 2001)
 * 1922  – Pierre Juneau, Canadian broadcaster and politician, co-founded the Montreal World Film Festival (d. 2012)
 * 1923 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004)
 * 1923  – Charles McClendon, American football player and coach (d. 2001)
 * 1924 – Don Coryell, American football player and coach (d. 2010)
 * 1924  – Anton Geiser, Croatian SS officer (d. 2012)
 * 1924  – Giacomo Mari, Italian footballer (d. 1991)
 * 1924  – Rolando Panerai, Italian baritone (d. 2019)
 * 1925 – Harry Carpenter, English sportscaster (d. 2010)
 * 1926 – Julie Adams, American actress (d. 2019)
 * 1926  – Beverly Garland, American actress (d. 2008)
 * 1926  – Roberto Lippi, Italian race car driver (d. 2011)
 * 1928 – Santiago Stevenson, Panamanian singer and minister (d. 2007)
 * 1928  – Alejandro Végh Villegas, Uruguayan politician (d. 2017)
 * 1929 – Mário Wilson, Mozambican footballer and manager (d. 2016)
 * 1930 – Ismail Akbay, Turkish physicist and engineer (d. 2003)
 * 1930  – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (d. 2003)
 * 1931 – José Alencar, Brazilian businessman and politician (d. 2011)
 * 1932  – Paul Anderson, American weightlifter (d. 1994)
 * 1931  – Ernst Hinterberger, Austrian author and playwright (d. 2012)
 * 1931  – Anatoly Pristavkin, Russian writer (d. 2008)
 * 1933 – William Anders, Hong Kong-American general and astronaut (d. 2024)
 * 1933  – The Singing Nun, Belgian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and nun (d. 1985)
 * 1934 – Alan Garner, English author and playwright
 * 1934  – Johnny Haynes, English-Scottish footballer (d. 2005)
 * 1934  – Rico Rodriguez, Jamaican trombonist (d. 2015)
 * 1935 – Sydney Chapman, English architect and politician, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (d. 2014)
 * 1935  – Michael Eavis, English farmer, founded the Glastonbury Festival
 * 1935  – Carlos Pairetti, Argentine racing driver (d. 2022)
 * 1936 – Sathima Bea Benjamin, South African singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
 * 1936  – Hiroo Kanamori, Japanese-American seismologist and academic
 * 1936  – Santiago Navarro, Spanish basketball player (d. 1993)
 * 1936  – Bert Nievera, Filipino-American singer (d. 2018)
 * 1937 – José María Álvarez del Manzano, Spanish politician
 * 1937  – Aida Navarro, Venezuelan mezzo-soprano
 * 1937  – Renato Prada Oropeza, Bolivian-Mexican scientist (d. 2011)
 * 1937  – Paxton Whitehead, English actor (d. 2023)
 * 1938 – António Calvário, Portuguese singer and artist
 * 1938  – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (d. 2007)
 * 1938  – Les Murray, Australian anthologist, poet, and critic (d. 2019)
 * 1939 – Oliver Rackham, English botanist and academic (d. 2015)
 * 1940 – Stephen Kovacevich, American pianist and conductor
 * 1940  – Jim Smith, English footballer and manager (d. 2019)
 * 1940  – Peter Stringfellow, English businessman (d. 2018)
 * 1941 – Earl Thomas Conley, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
 * 1941  – Paul Ellison, American musician
 * 1941  – Jim Seals, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and violinist (d. 2022)
 * 1942 – Steve Jones, American basketball player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
 * 1942  – Gary Puckett, American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1943 – Ignacio Rupérez, Spanish diplomat and journalist (d. 2015)
 * 1944 – Ángel Cristo, Spanish circus performer (d. 2010)
 * 1946 – Ronni Chasen, American publicist (d. 2010)
 * 1946  – Michael Hossack, American drummer (d. 2012)
 * 1946  – Manuel "Flaco" Ibáñez, Mexican actor and comedian
 * 1946  – Akira Kushida, Japanese vocalist
 * 1946  – Cameron Mackintosh, English producer and manager
 * 1946  – Adam Michnik, Polish journalist and historian
 * 1946  – Julio Miranda, Argentine politician (d. 2021)
 * 1946  – Drusilla Modjeska, English-Australian author and critic
 * 1946  – Daniela Payssé, Uruguayan politician (d. 2018)
 * 1946  – José Perramón, Spanish handball player
 * 1946  – Jaime Ravinet, Chilean politician
 * 1946  – Bob Seagren, American pole vaulter
 * 1946  – Rüdiger Wittig, German geobotanist and ecologist
 * 1947 – Omar Azziman, adviser to the King of Morocco
 * 1947  – Gene Green, American lawyer and politician
 * 1947  – Michael McKean, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
 * 1947  – Robert Post, American educator and academic
 * 1948 – Osvaldo Castro, Chilean footballer
 * 1948  – Robert Jordan, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
 * 1948  – Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress (d. 2018)
 * 1948  – George Wendt, American actor and comedian
 * 1949 – Owen Arthur, Barbadian economist and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 2020)
 * 1949  – Bill Hudson, American musician and actor
 * 1950 – Philippe Barbarin, French cardinal
 * 1950  – Sandra Reemer, Indo-Dutch singer (d. 2017)
 * 1950  – Howard Rollins, American actor (d. 1996)
 * 1951 – Dirk Beheydt, Belgian footballer
 * 1951  – Annie Borckink, Dutch speed skater
 * 1951  – Roger Pontare, Swedish singer
 * 1951  – Shari Ulrich, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and violinist
 * 1953 – Joseph Bowie, American trombonist and bandleader
 * 1953  – Domenico Penzo, Italian footballer
 * 1954 – Carlos Buhler, American mountaineer
 * 1955 – Georgios Alogoskoufis, Greek economist, academic, and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
 * 1955  – Mike Bratz, American basketball player
 * 1956 – Fran Cosmo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1956  – Mae Jemison, American physician, academic, and astronaut
 * 1956  – Pat McCrory, American businessman and politician, 74th Governor of North Carolina
 * 1956  – Ken Morrow, American ice hockey player and executive
 * 1956  – Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author
 * 1957 – Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Greek folk singer
 * 1957  – Nelson Barrera, Mexican baseball player (d. 2002)
 * 1957  – Lawrence Bender, American actor and producer
 * 1957  – Antonio Galdo, Italian journalist
 * 1957  – Steve McMichael, American football player, wrestler, and sportscaster
 * 1957  – Pino Palladino, Welsh bassist
 * 1957  – Vincent Van Patten, American tennis player and actor
 * 1958 – Howard Alden, American guitarist
 * 1958  – Alan Jackson, American singer-songwriter
 * 1958  – Sandra Mozarowsky, Spanish actress (d. 1977)
 * 1958  – Craig Murray, British diplomat
 * 1959 – Mustafa Aberchán, Spanish politician
 * 1959  – Ron Drummond, American author and scholar
 * 1959  – Francisco Flores Pérez, Salvadorian politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2016)
 * 1959  – Russell Gilbert, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
 * 1959  – Eugenio Hernández Flores, Mexican politician
 * 1959  – Norm Macdonald, Canadian actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2021)
 * 1959  – Mark Peel, Australian historian and academic
 * 1959  – Richard Roeper, American journalist and critic
 * 1960 – Guy Henry, English actor
 * 1960  – Rob Marshall, American director, producer, and choreographer
 * 1960  – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer (d. 2013)
 * 1960  – Philippe Sands, American lawyer and academic
 * 1961 – David Means, American short story writer
 * 1962 – Glenn Braggs, American baseball player
 * 1962  – Jay Humphries, American basketball player
 * 1962  – Mike Judge, American animator, director, screenwriter, producer and actor
 * 1963 – Sergio Goycochea, Argentinian footballer and journalist
 * 1963  – Toby Young, English journalist and academic
 * 1964 – Margarita Liborio Arrazola, Mexican politician
 * 1964  – Gregg Wallace, English television presenter
 * 1965 – Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
 * 1965  – Rhys Muldoon, Australian actor
 * 1966 – Shaun Edwards, English rugby player and coach
 * 1966  – Danny Ferry, American basketball player and manager
 * 1966  – Mark Gatiss, English actor, screenwriter and novelist
 * 1966  – Tommy Kendall, American race car driver and sportscaster
 * 1967 – René Dif, Danish musician
 * 1967  – Pedro González Vera, Chilean footballer
 * 1967  – Simon Segars, English businessman
 * 1967  – Nathalie Tauziat, French tennis player
 * 1968 – Alejandra Ávalos, Mexican artist
 * 1968  – Graeme Le Saux, English footballer and sportscaster
 * 1968  – Ziggy Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter, guitarist, and voice actor
 * 1968  – David Robertson, Scottish footballer and manager
 * 1969 – Ernie Els, South African golfer and sportscaster
 * 1969  – Jesús Ángel García, Spanish racewalker
 * 1969  – Wood Harris, American actor
 * 1969  – Wyclef Jean, Haitian-American rapper, producer, and actor
 * 1969  – Rick Mercer, Canadian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1970 – Anil Kumble, Indian cricketer
 * 1970  – John Mabry, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1970  – J. C. MacKenzie, Canadian actor
 * 1971 – Chris Kirkpatrick, American singer-songwriter and dancer
 * 1971  – Kim Ljung, Norwegian singer-songwriter and bass player
 * 1971  – Martin Heinrich, American politician
 * 1971  – Derrick Plourde, American drummer (d. 2005)
 * 1971  – Blues Saraceno, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
 * 1972 – Eminem, American rapper, producer, and actor
 * 1972  – Sharon Leal, American actress
 * 1972  – Musashi, Japanese karateka and kickboxer
 * 1972  – Tarkan, German-Turkish singer
 * 1973 – Rubén Garcés, Panamanian basketball player
 * 1973  – Andrea Tarozzi, Italian footballer and coach
 * 1974 – Ariel Levy, American journalist and author
 * 1974  – Matthew Macfadyen, English actor
 * 1974  – Obdulio Ávila Mayo, Mexican politician
 * 1974  – Bárbara Paz, Brazilian actress
 * 1974  – Janne Puurtinen, Finnish keyboard player
 * 1974  – John Rocker, American baseball player
 * 1974  – Darío Sala, Argentine footballer
 * 1974  – Gabriel Silberstein, Chilean tennis player
 * 1974  – Dhondup Wangchen, Chinese director and producer
 * 1975 – Jericó Abramo Masso, Mexican politician
 * 1975  – Francis Bouillon, American-Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1975  – Vina Morales, Filipino actress and singer
 * 1976 – Sebastián Abreu, Uruguayan footballer
 * 1976  – Seth Etherton, American baseball player
 * 1976  – Carlos Loret de Mola, Mexican journalist
 * 1976  – Kevin Maher, English-Irish footballer and coach
 * 1977 – Dudu Aouate, Israeli footballer
 * 1977  – Alimi Ballard, American actor and producer
 * 1977  – Bryan Bertino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1977  – Walter Calderón, Ecuadorian footballer
 * 1977  – Marko Antonio Cortés Mendoza, Mexican politician
 * 1977  – Ryan McGinley, American photographer
 * 1977  – André Villas-Boas, Portuguese footballer and manager
 * 1978 – Jerry Flannery, Irish rugby player and coach
 * 1978  – Pablo Iglesias Turrión, Spanish politician
 * 1978  – Erin Karpluk, Canadian actress
 * 1978  – Chuka Umunna, English lawyer and politician
 * 1979 – Marcela Bovio, Mexican singer-songwriter and violinist
 * 1979  – Alexandros Nikolaidis, Greek martial artist (d. 2022)
 * 1979  – Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish race car driver
 * 1979  – Kostas Tsartsaris, Greek basketball player
 * 1980 – Yekaterina Gamova, Russian volleyball player
 * 1980  – Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistani cricketer
 * 1980  – Isaac Mina, Ecuadorian footballer
 * 1980  – Angel Parker, American actress
 * 1980  – Alessandro Piccolo, Italian race car driver
 * 1980  – Justin Shenkarow, American actor
 * 1981 – Horacio Cervantes, Mexican footballer
 * 1981  – Kurumi Enomoto, Japanese singer-songwriter
 * 1981  – Holly Holm, American mixed martial artist
 * 1981  – Tsubasa Imai, Japanese singer, actor, and dancer
 * 1981  – Ben Rothwell, American mixed-martial artist
 * 1982 – Rubén Ramírez, Argentine footballer
 * 1982  – Nick Riewoldt, Australian footballer
 * 1982  – Marion Rolland, alpine ski racer
 * 1983 – Michelle Ang, New Zealander actress
 * 1983  – Milica Brozovic, Serbian-Russian figure skater
 * 1983  – Felicity Jones, English actress
 * 1983  – Toshihiro Matsushita, Japanese footballer
 * 1983  – Riki Miura, Japanese actor
 * 1983  – Junichi Miyashita, Japanese swimmer
 * 1983  – Ivan Saenko, Russian footballer
 * 1983  – Mitch Talbot, American baseball player
 * 1983  – Vitali Teleš, Estonian footballer
 * 1984 – Sami Lepistö, Finnish ice hockey player
 * 1984  – Chris Lowell, American actor
 * 1984  – Giovanni Marchese, Italian footballer
 * 1984  – Randall Munroe, American author and illustrator
 * 1984  – Luke Rockhold, American mixed martial artist
 * 1984  – Anja Eline Skybakmoen,  Norwegian singer-songwriter and bandleader
 * 1984  – Gottfrid Svartholm, Swedish computer specialist
 * 1984  – Jared Tallent, Australian race walker
 * 1985 – Carlos González, Venezuelan baseball player
 * 1985  – Max Irons, English-Irish actor
 * 1985  – Collins John, Dutch footballer
 * 1985  – Tomokazu Nagira, Japanese footballer
 * 1986 – Alexandre Bonnet, French footballer
 * 1986  – Antoni Bou, Spanish motorcyclist
 * 1986  – Aija Brumermane, Latvian basketball player
 * 1986  – Constant Djakpa, Ivorian footballer
 * 1986  – Yannick Ponsero, French figure skater
 * 1986  – Nicolás Richotti, Argentine basketball player
 * 1987 – Bea Alonzo, Filipino actress and singer
 * 1987  – Jarosław Fojut, Polish footballer
 * 1987  – Elliot Grandin, French footballer
 * 1987  – Hideto Takahashi, Japanese footballer
 * 1988 – Sergiy Gladyr, Ukrainian basketball player
 * 1988  – Tori Matsuzaka, Japanese actor and model
 * 1988  – Marina Salas, Spanish actress
 * 1989 – Débora García, Spanish footballer
 * 1989  – Oleksandr Isakov, Ukrainian swimmer
 * 1989  – Sophie Luck, Australian actress
 * 1989  – Charles Oliveira, Brazilian mixed martial artist
 * 1989  – David Timor, Spanish footballer
 * 1990 – Paolo Campinoti, Italian footballer
 * 1990  – Maica García Godoy, Spanish water polo player
 * 1990  – Ronald González Tabilo, Chilean footballer
 * 1990  – Saki Kumagai, Japanese footballer
 * 1990  – Patrick Lambie, South African rugby player
 * 1991 – Brenda Asnicar, Argentine actress
 * 1992 – Jacob Artist, American actor, singer, and dancer
 * 1992  – Sam Concepcion, Filipino musician and dancer
 * 1992  – Anthony Gill, American basketball player
 * 1992  – Keerthy Suresh, Indian actress
 * 1993 – Kenneth Omeruo, Nigerian footballer
 * 1993  – Vincent Poirier, French basketball player
 * 1995 – Jamal Adams, American football player
 * 1995  – Ha-seong Kim, South Korean baseball player
 * 1996 – Jake DeBrusk, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1997 – Robert Williams III, American basketball player
 * 2001 – Thomas Strudwick, British motorcycle road racer
 * 2002 – Matthew Knies, American professional ice hockey player

Pre-1600

 * AD 33 – Agrippina the Elder, Roman wife of Germanicus (b. 14 BC)
 * 532 – Pope Boniface II
 * 866 – Al-Musta'in, Abbasid caliph (b. 836)
 * 1271 – Steinvör Sighvatsdóttir, Icelandic aristocrat and poet
 * 1277 – Beatrice of Falkenburg, German queen consort (b. c. 1254)
 * 1346 – John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray
 * 1346 – Maurice de Moravia, Earl of Strathearn
 * 1456 – Nicolas Grenon, French composer (b. 1375)
 * 1485 – John Scott of Scott's Hall, Warden of the Cinque Ports
 * 1528 – Hernando Alonso, Spanish conquistador, first Jew executed in the New World
 * 1552 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)
 * 1575 – Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta, Spanish cardinal (b. 1511)
 * 1586 – Philip Sidney, English courtier, poet, and general (b. 1554)
 * 1587 – Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1541)

1601–1900

 * 1616 – John Pitts, English priest and scholar (b. 1560)
 * 1660 – Adrian Scrope, English colonel and politician (b. 1601)
 * 1673 – Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, English politician, Lord High Treasurer of England (b. 1630)
 * 1690 – Margaret Mary Alacoque, French mystic (b. 1647)
 * 1757 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (b. 1683)
 * 1776 – Pierre François le Courayer, French-English theologian and author (b. 1681)
 * 1780 – William Cookworthy, English pharmacist and minister (b. 1705)
 * 1781 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, English admiral (b. 1705)
 * 1786 – Johann Ludwig Aberli, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1723)
 * 1806 – Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haitian commander and politician, Governor-General of Haiti (b. 1758)
 * 1836 – Orest Kiprensky, Russian painter (b. 1782)
 * 1837 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1778)
 * 1849 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1810)
 * 1868 – Laura Secord, Canadian war heroine (b. 1775)
 * 1887 – Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist and chemist (b. 1824)
 * 1889 – Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1828)
 * 1893 – Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, French general and politician, 3rd President of France (b. 1808)

1901–present

 * 1910 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (b. 1819)
 * 1918 – Malak Hifni Nasif, Egyptian poet and author (b. 1886)
 * 1920 – Michael Fitzgerald (Irish republican) died on Hunger Strike (b. 1881)
 * 1928 – Frank Dicksee, English painter and illustrator (b. 1853)
 * 1931 – Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist and academic (b. 1884)
 * 1937 – J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman (b. 1862)
 * 1938 – Karl Kautsky, Czech-German journalist, philosopher, and theoretician (b. 1854)
 * 1948 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (b. 1869)
 * 1955 – Dimitrios Maximos, Greek banker and politician (b. 1873)
 * 1956 – Anne Crawford, Israeli-English actress (b. 1920)
 * 1957 – Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, Scottish suffragist and feminist (b. 1884)
 * 1958 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (b. 1896)
 * 1958  – Charlie Townsend, English cricketer and lawyer (b. 1876)
 * 1962 – Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter, costume designer, and set designer (b. 1882)
 * 1963 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician and academic (b. 1865)
 * 1965 – Bart King, American cricketer (b. 1873)
 * 1966 – Sidney Hatch, American runner and soldier (b. 1883)
 * 1966  – Wieland Wagner, German director and manager (b. 1917)
 * 1967 – Puyi, Chinese emperor (b. 1906)
 * 1970 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1921)
 * 1970  – Vola Vale, American actress (b. 1897)
 * 1970  – Quincy Wright, American political scientist and academic (b. 1890)
 * 1972 – Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1914)
 * 1972  – George, Crown Prince of Serbia (b. 1887)
 * 1973 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian author and poet (b. 1926)
 * 1978 – George Clark, American race car driver (b. 1890)
 * 1978  – Giovanni Gronchi, Italian educator, soldier, and politician, 3rd President of the Italian Republic (b. 1887)
 * 1979 – S. J. Perelman, American humorist and screenwriter (b. 1904)
 * 1979  – John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (b. 1898)
 * 1979  – Eugenio Mendoza, Venezuelan business tycoon (b. 1909)
 * 1981 – Kannadasan Indian author, poet, and songwriter (b. 1927)
 * 1981  – Albert Cohen, Greek-Swiss civil servant and author (b. 1895)
 * 1981  – Lina Tsaldari, Greek politician (b. 1887)
 * 1983 – Raymond Aron, French sociologist, political scientist, and philosopher (b. 1905)
 * 1987 – Abdul Malek Ukil, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
 * 1991 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (b. 1919)
 * 1992 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (b. 1912)
 * 1992  – Orestis Laskos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
 * 1993 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1963)
 * 1996 – Chris Acland, English musician and drummer of Lush (b. 1966)
 * 1997 – Larry Jennings, American magician and author (b. 1933)
 * 1998 – Joan Hickson, English actress (b. 1906)
 * 1998  – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (b. 1920)
 * 1999 – Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1915)
 * 2000 – Leo Nomellini, Italian-American football player and wrestler (b. 1924)
 * 2000  – Joachim Nielsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1964)
 * 2001 – Jay Livingston, American singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
 * 2001  – Micheline Ostermeyer, French shot putter, discus thrower, and pianist (b. 1922)
 * 2001  – Rehavam Ze'evi, Israeli historian, general, and politician, Tourism Minister of Israel (b. 1926)
 * 2002 – Derek Bell, Irish harpist and composer (b. 1935)
 * 2004 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
 * 2006 – Daniel Emilfork, Chilean-French actor (b. 1924)
 * 2006  – Christopher Glenn, American journalist (b. 1938)
 * 2007 – Joey Bishop, American actor and talk show host (b. 1918)
 * 2007  – Teresa Brewer, American singer (b. 1931)
 * 2007  – Suzy Covey, American scholar and academic (b. 1939)
 * 2008 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (b. 1955)
 * 2008  – Levi Stubbs, American singer (b. 1936)
 * 2008  – Ben Weider, Canadian businessman, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (b. 1923)
 * 2009 – Norma Fox Mazer, American author and educator (b. 1931)
 * 2009  – Vic Mizzy, American composer (b. 1916)
 * 2011 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman (b. 1919)
 * 2012 – Milija Aleksic, English-South African footballer (b. 1951)
 * 2012  – Émile Allais, French skier (b. 1912)
 * 2012  – Henry Friedlander, German-American historian and author (b. 1930)
 * 2012  – Stanford R. Ovshinsky, American scientist and businessman, co-founded Energy Conversion Devices (b. 1922)
 * 2012  – Kōji Wakamatsu, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
 * 2013 – Mother Antonia, American-Mexican nun and activist (b. 1926)
 * 2013  – Terry Fogerty, English rugby player and coach (b. 1944)
 * 2013  – Arthur Maxwell House, Canadian neurologist and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (b. 1926)
 * 2013  – Lou Scheimer, American animator, producer, and voice actor, co-founded the Filmation Company (b. 1928)
 * 2013  – Rene Simpson, Canadian-American tennis player (b. 1966)
 * 2014 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (b. 1937)
 * 2014  – Masaru Emoto, Japanese author and activist (b. 1943)
 * 2014  – Tom Shaw, American bishop (b. 1945)
 * 2014  – Berndt von Staden, German diplomat, German Ambassador to the United States (b. 1919)
 * 2015 – Danièle Delorme, French actress and producer (b. 1926)
 * 2015  – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (b. 1946)
 * 2015  – Anne-Marie Lizin, Belgian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
 * 2015  – Tom Smith, American businessman and politician (b. 1947)
 * 2017 – Gord Downie, Canadian musician (b. 1964)
 * 2019 – Elijah Cummings, American politician and civil rights advocate (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Andrew of Crete
 * Anstrudis
 * Catervus
 * Ethelred and Ethelberht
 * Florentius of Orange
 * François-Isidore Gagelin (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
 * Hosea
 * Ignatius of Antioch
 * John the Short (John Colobus)
 * Marguerite Marie Alacoque (pre-1969 calendar, Visitadines)
 * Nothhelm
 * Rule of Andrew
 * Richard Gwyn
 * Victor of Capua
 * October 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
 * Loyalty Day (Argentina)
 * National Police Day (Thailand)
 * National Heroes Day (Somaliland)