In the year 1917, Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for spying (Feb 13), the first jazz recording is commercially released (Mar 7), the Russian Empire comes to an end as Nicholas II abdicates his throne (Mar 15), the Danish West Indies become the US Virgin Islands (Mar 31), Lenin returns to Russia from exile (Apr 16), Our Lady of Fátima apparitions begin, lasting 5 months (May 13), the first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded (Jun 4), the Lions Club International is formed (Jul 7), October Revolution in Russia starts years of turmoil (Nov 7/Oct 25 O.S.), NHL is formed in Montreal (Nov 26), the Senate of Finland officially declares the country’s independence from Russia (Dec 6), WWI still goes on - and all these fine people were born:

1917-0105 Jane Wyman* actress/ philanthropist - Saint Joseph, MO USA (2007/90) 1917-0121 Erling Persson* Swedish businessman/founder of H&M - Greece (2002/85) 1917-0202 Mary Ellis* ferry pilot/WW2  - Leafield, Oxforshire, England (2018/101) 1917-0205 Vivica Bandler* (b von Frenckell) agronomist/theater director/ lover of Tove Jansson - Helsinki, Finland (2004/87) 1917-0206 Zsa Zsa Gabor* actress - Budapest, Austria-Hungary (2016/99) 1917-0206 Arnold Spielberg* electrical engineer/father of Steven Spielberg - Cincinnati, OH USA (2020/103) 1917-0211 Sidney Sheldon* writer/producer - Chicago, IL USA (2007/89) 1917-0212 Odessa Grady Clay* (b O’Grady) granddaughter of an Irishman/mother of Muhammad Ali - Hopkins County, KY USA (1994/77) 1917-0215 1917-0218 Tuulikki Pietilä* Finnish graphic artist/professor/life partner of Tove Jansson - Seattle, Wa USA (2009/92) 1917-0220 Louisa Matthíasdóttir* Icelandic-American painter - Reykjavik, Iceland (2000/83) 1917-0225 Anthony Burgess* writer/ composer - Harpurhey, Lancashire, England (1993/76) 1917-0227 John Connally* politician/ Governor of Texas - Floresville, TX USA (1993/76) 1917-0228 1917-0301 1917-0302 Desi Arnaz* Cuban-American actor/m to Lucille Ball - Santiago de Cuba, Republic of Cuba (1986/69) 1917-0302 Max Webb* Polish-American Holocaust survivor/real estate developer/ philanthropist - Lodz, Poland (2018/101) 1917-0320 Vera Lynn* singer/songwriter/ entertainer - East Ham, Essex, England (2020/103) 1917-0402 Dabbs Greer* actor - Fairview, MO USA (2007/90) 1917-0405 Robert Bloch* writer (Psycho) - Chicago, IL USA (1994/77) 1917-0410 1917-0420 1917-0422 Leo Abse* lawyer/ politician/writer - Cardiff, Wales (2008/91) Oh Brother 1917-0425 Ella Fitzgerald* jazz singer - Newport News, VA USA (1996/79) 1917-0426 I. M. Pei* Chinese-American architect - Guangzhou, Canton, China (2019/102) 1917-0429 Urie Bronfenbrenner* Russian-American psychologist/to the U.S. at age 6 - Moscow, Russia, Russian Provisional Government (2005/88) 1917-0430 1917-0501 John Beradino* baseball player/actor - USA (1996/79) 1917-0501 Fyodor Khitruk* animator/ animation director - Tver, Russian Provisional Government (2012/95) 1917-0507 Max Rafferty* writer/ educator/politician - New Orleans, LA USA (1982/65) 1917-0516 George Gaynes* (b Jongejans) American singer/actor/voice artist - Helsinki, GD of Finland (2016/98) 1917-0520 Arthur Rense* sports journalist/PR director - Cleveland, OH USA (1990/73) 1917-0521 Raymond Burr* actor - New Westminster, BC Canada (1993/76) 1917-0526 Ada Kouri Barreto* cardiologist - Havana, Cuba (2005/88) 1917-0529 John F. Kennedy* politician/35usp - Brookline, MA USA (1963/46) 1917-0531 1917-0601 1917-0607 Dean Martin* actor/singer/producer - Steubenville, OH USA (1995/78) 1917-0610 1917-0615 Lash LaRue* actor/ Western motion picture star - Gretna, LA USA (1996/78) 1917-0625 Nils Karlsson* “Mora-Nisse” cross-country skier/OG - Östnor, Mora, Sweden (2012/94) 1917-0630 Susan Hayward* actress - Brooklyn, NY USA (1975/57) 1917-0701 Shyam Saran Negi* schoolteacher/cast the first vote in the first election since the end of the British Rule - Kalpa, Bushahr State, British India 1917-0702 André Lafargue* WW2 resistance fighter/journalist/theatre critic - Paris, France (2017/100) 1917-0704 Manolete* (b Manuel Sánchez) bullfighter - Córdoba, Andalucia, Kingdom of Spain (1947/30) 1917-0706 Heribert Barrera* chemist/ politician - Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain (2011/94) 1917-0706 Arthur Lydiard* runner/ athletics coach - Auckland, New Zealand (2004/87) 1917-0710 Reg Smythe* cartoonist - Hartlepool, County Durham, England (1998/80) 1917-0711 Per Carleson* epeé fencer - Stockholm, Sweden (2004/86) 1917-0714 Nur Muhammad Taraki* revolutionary politician/journalist/writer - Nawa, Ghazni, Emirate of Afghanistan (1979/62) 1917-0715 Robert Conquest* historian/ poet - Great Malvern, Worchestershire, England (2015/98) 1917-0715 Joan Roberts* actress - New York City, NY USA (2012/85) 1917-0717 Phyllis Diller* actress/ stand-up comedienne - Lima, OH USA (2012/95) 1917-0718 Henri Salvador* French Caribbean comedian/singer/cabaret artist - Cayenne, French Guiana (2008/90) 1917-0720 Paul Hubschmid* actor - Schoenenwerd, Switzerland (2001/84) 1917-0722 Larry Hooper* musician/ singer - Independence, MO USA (1983/65) 1917-0724 Henri Betti* pianist/ composer - Nice, France (2005/87) 1917-0726 Lorna Gray* (b Virginia Pound) actress - Grand Rapids, MI USA (2017/99) 1917-0729 Rochus Misch* Hitler’s bodyguard - Alt Schalkowitz, Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (2013/96) 1917-0806 Robert Mitchum* actor - Bridgeport, CT USA (1997/79) 1917-0812 Marjorie Reynolds* actress/ dancer - Buhk, ID USA (1997/79) 1917-0815 Jack Lynch* politician/PM - Cork, Ireland (1999/82) 1917-0818 Caspar Weinberger* businessman/ politician - San Francisco, CA USA (2006/88) 1917-0821 Esther Cooper Jackson* social worker/civil rights activist - Arlington, VA USA (2022/105) 1917-0828 Jack Kirby* comic book artist/writer/editor - Manhattan, NY USA (1994/76) 1917-0831 1917-0901 1917-0904 Henry Ford II* car manufacturer - Detroit, MI USA (1987/70) 1917-0911 Ferdinand Marcos* politician - Sarrat, Philippine Islands (1989/72) 1917-0911 Jessica Mitford* author/ political activist/to U.S. at age 22 - Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire, England (1996/78) 1917-0911 Daniel Wildenstein* art dealer/ historian/thoroughbred race horse breeder - Paris, France (2001/84) 1917-0915 1917-0917 Eloise Hardt* actress/of Cherokee and German descent - Oklahoma, USA (2017/99) 1917-0919 Sigfrid Mattsson* cross-country skier (Vasaloppet) - Sweden (2009/91) 1917-0921 Mahlagha Mallah* librarian/ environmentalist - Now Kandeh, Sublime State of Iran (2021/104) 1917-0925 1917-0928 Eugeniusz Horbaczewski* Polish fighter pilot - Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire (1944/26) 1917-0930 Buddy Rich* jazz drummer/bandleader - Brooklyn, NY USA (1987/69) 1917-1006 Fanny Lou Hamer* activist - Montgomery County, MS USA (1977/59) 1917-1020 Jean-Pierre Melville* film director - Paris, France (1973/55) 1917-1022 Joan Fontaine* British actress - Tokyo, Japan (2013/96) 1917-1027 Oliver Tambo* anti-apartheid politician/ President of the ANC - Nkantolo, South Africa (1993/75) 1917-1027 Nils Täpp* cross-country skier/OG - Malung, Sweden (2000/82) 1917-1101 1917-1102 Li Minhua* physicist/first woman to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT - Wu County, China (2013/95) 1917-1110 1917-1114 Henry Theel* singer/actor - Helsinki, Finland (1989/72) 1917-1119 Indira Gandhi* (b Nehru) politician/PM - Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, British India (1984/66) 1917-1120 1917-1127 Paavo Pauli Kivi* engineer student/corporal - Impilahti, GD of Finland (1942/24) Sotapolku 1917-1130 1917-1201 1917-1206 Irv Robbins* businessman/ co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain - Winnipeg, MB Canada (2008/90) 1917-1209 Jolan Chang* Chinese-Canadian Taoist sexologist/philosopher/ writer - Hangzhou, China (2002/84) 1917-1209 James Rainwater* physicist/N - Council, ID USA (1986/68) 1917-1210 1917-1212 Erkki Salonoja* entrepreneur/ known for HK Sininen Lenkki - Uskela, Finland (1987/70) 1917-1215 Krista Lavíčková* secretary/fought against Nazism with the German Resistance group, the European Union - Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (1944/26) 1917-1215 Karl-Günther von Hase* politician/ diplomat - Breslau, Prussia, German Empire (2021/103) 1917-1216 Arthur C. Clarke* science-fiction writer/inventor/futurist - Minehead, Somerset, England (2008/90) 1917-1220 1917-1225 Holger Granström* hockey player/football player/first Finnish goal scorer in an IIHF tournament - Ruokolahti, Finland (1941/23) 1917-1231 Joan McCracken* dancer/ actress/comedian - Philadelphia, PA USA (1961/43) Updated 2025-0122 Helsinki Search for another year here here