November 17, 2025, marks the 321st day of the year, with 44 days remaining. The moon is currently in a waning phase. Morning stars visible include Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Venus. In the evening, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus will shine brightly.
Born on November 17
This date has seen the birth of many notable figures, including:
- King Louis XVIII of France (1755)
- Astronomer August Mobius (1790)
- Social reformer Grace Abbott (1878)
- Actor Rock Hudson (1925)
- Musician Gordon Lightfoot (1938)
- Filmmaker Martin Scorsese (1942, age 83)
- Musician Bob Gaudio (1942, age 83)
- Model Lauren Hutton (1943, age 82)
- Actor Danny DeVito (1944, age 81)
- TV producer Lorne Michaels (1944, age 81)
- Baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver (1944)
- Basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim (1944, age 81)
- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (1945, age 80)
- Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (1949, age 76)
- Actor Stephen Root (1951, age 74)
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (1952, age 73)
- Civil rights leader Yolanda King (1955)
- Actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (1958, age 67)
- TV personality RuPaul (1960, age 65)
- Actor Dylan Walsh (1963, age 62)
- Former U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice (1964, age 61)
- Actor Daisy Fuentes (1966, age 59)
- Musician Jeff Buckley (1966)
- Actor Sophie Marceau (1966, age 59)
- Musician Ben Wilson (1967, age 58)
- Musician Ronnie DeVoe (1967, age 58)
- Actor David Ramsey (1971, age 54)
- Actor Leslie Bibb (1974, age 51)
- Actor Brandon Call (1976, age 49)
- Actor Rachel McAdams (1978, age 47)
- Actor Tom Ellis (1978, age 47)
- Musician Isaac Hanson (1980, age 45)
- Actor Harry Lloyd (1983, age 42)
- Writer Christopher Paolini (1983, age 42)
- Musician Reid Perry (1988, age 37)
Key Historical Events
Several significant historical events occurred on November 17:
- 1558: Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne, marking the beginning of the Elizabethan Age.
- 1800: The U.S. Congress met at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., for the first time.
- 1869: The Suez Canal in Egypt officially opened, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
- 1871: The National Rifle Association was founded to enhance marksmanship skills among its members.
- 1903: The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party divided into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
- 1968: NBC faced backlash for interrupting a football game to air the movie “Heidi.”
- 1973: President Richard Nixon infamously stated, “I am not a crook,” during the Watergate scandal.
- 1989: The Velvet Revolution began in Czechoslovakia, leading to the end of 41 years of Communist rule.
- 1993: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- 2006: The FDA approved the marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants after a 14-year moratorium.
- 2023: OpenAI’s board removed and then reinstated CEO Sam Altman amid a confidence crisis.
As a thought-provoking conclusion, British author Doris Lessing once said, “There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.”
