Born in 1917

What things cost in 1917

1917 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED. Average retail prices are only published from 1976 on; 1917 has the CPI alone.

Who was in charge in 1917

United States, head of state and government

Woodrow Wilson Wikidata

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, head of state

George V Wikidata

Canada, head of government

Robert Borden Wikidata

Terms from Wikidata, shown only where they match the official lists of holders.

Famous people born in 1917

• September 11 – Ferdinand Marcos, 10th President of the Philippines (died 1989) source
• May 29 – John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963 (died 1963) source
• 19 November – Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (assassinated 1984). source
• December 29 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (died 2005) source
• August 28 – Jack Kirby, comic book artist (died 1994) source
• 24 March – Krafft Arnold Ehricke, German rocket-propulsion engineer and advocate for space colonization (died 1984) source
• January 6 – Koo Chen-fu, Nationalist Chinese negotiator (died 2005) source
• November 22 – Andrew Huxley, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 2012) source
• March 16 – Mehrdad Pahlbod, Iranian royal and politician (died 2018) source
• October 22 – Joan Fontaine, British-born actress (died 2013) source
• August 6 – Robert Mitchum, actor (died 1997) source
• November 29 – Pierre Gaspard-Huit, French film director, screenwriter (died 2017) source
• May 21 – Raymond Burr, actor (d.1993) source
• December 16 – Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English science-fiction author, best known for co-writing the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey (died 2008) source
• 5 January – Wieland Wagner, German opera director (died 1966) source

What happened in 1917

• 4 January – First cabinet of Jón Magnússon source
• 24 February – Walter Hines Page, United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, is shown the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico, if Mexico will take sides with Germany when the United States declares war on Germany. source
• 5 March – Natal – Izingolweni to Harding (narrow gauge), 39 mi 56 ch. source
• 1 February – Georg Andreas Bull, architect and chief building inspector (born 1829) source
• January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party are rescued after being stranded for several months. source
• January 13: Ciurea rail disaster. The worst rail accident in Romanian history and third worst in the history of the world, with most estimates falling between 800 and 1000 deaths. source
• February 12 – Toluca FC is founded as an Association football club in Mexico. source
• 20 March – A motion to reduce the salary of the British prime minister by £100 was introduced in the British House of Commons as a protest against the refusal to publish the proceedings of the 1916 Easter Rising courts martial. source