At A Glance

17 August 1940 at a glance

Day of the week
17 August 1940 was a Saturday.
Top Film of 1940
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1940 was Pinocchio.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 August 1940 fell in the Year of the Dragon.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 August 1940 was Full Moon.

On this day: 17 August

  • 1942 World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin.
  • 1943 World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
  • 1943 World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
  • 1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
  • 1945 The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.

Famous people born on 17 August

  • Robert De Niro, American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer (born 1943)
  • Phoebe Bridgers, American singer/songwriter (born 1994)
  • Sean Penn, American actor, director, and political activist (born 1960)
  • Larry Ellison, American businessman, co-founded the Oracle Corporation (born 1944)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1940 in Ireland

A selection from Wikipedia's '1940 in Ireland'. Not a complete list.

  • 17 January – The Enid (Captain Wibe) of neutral Norway sailing from Steinkjer to Dublin, 10 miles north of Shetland, went to assist SS Polzella which had been torpedoed by German submarine U-25 which then shelled and sank Enid.
  • 7 February – The Munster (Captain R. Paisley) was mined and sunk in the Irish Sea while entering Liverpool.
  • 3 March – Flooding of Poulaphouca Reservoir was begun by damming the River Liffey at Poulaphouca as part of the Electricity Supply Board project to build Ireland's second hydroelectricity generating station, together with an improved water supply for Dublin.
More events of 1940 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Famous Faces Born in the 1940s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Michael Gambon19 October 1940ActorView their day →Brenda Fricker17 February 1945ActressView their day →Gerry Adams6 October 1948Republican politicianView their day →Phil Lynott20 August 1949Rock musicianView their day →Sinéad Cusack18 February 1948ActressView their day →Rory Gallagher2 March 1948GuitaristView their day →Fionnula Flanagan10 December 1941ActressView their day →Gilbert O'Sullivan1 December 1946Singer-songwriterView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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