Holidays Calendar for August 17, 2025
The Gabonese Republic celebrates its Independence Day on August 17. This national holiday commemorates the independence of Gabon from France in 1960. The festivities usually last for two days, August 16 and 17.
Independence Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. This is one of the major public holidays for every nation, that gained independence from other country. For instance, Indonesia celebrates its Independence Day on August 17.
General José de San Martín was the prime leader of South American countries in the struggle for independence. Anniversary of the Death of General José de San Martín is a public holiday in Argentina.
Every year engineers of Colombia celebrate their professional holiday, Engineer's Day, on August 17. This holiday honors the hard work of engineers, who do their best to make our life safe and easy.
Tajikistani railway employees celebrate their professional holiday, Railway Employees Day, on August 17. It is one of the country’s official holidays established by the law of Tajikistan “On Holidays”.
Professional Days →
Tajikistan
Day of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Agencies Employees in Tajikistan
The Day of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Agencies Employees is an official professional holiday in Tajikistan, celebrated annually on August 17. It is also known informally as Rescuers’ Day.
Russia and Belarus celebrate Air Force Day on the third Sunday in August each year. This holiday was established in the USSR decades ago, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union only Belarus and Russia continued to celebrate it on this date.
Sports Day in Kazakhstan is observed on the third Sunday in August. This holiday was established by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in November 2003 and has been celebrated each year since August 15, 2004.
Aviation Workers’ Day is an unofficial professional holiday in Russia. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of August, coinciding with Air Force Day. Aviation Workers’ Day is the professional holiday of all people who work in the country’s aviation industry.
The Day of Inventors and Innovators is an official professional holiday in Tajikistan, celebrated annually on the third Sunday of August. It was established by the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Holidays”.
Black cats have a bad reputation in many cultures because they are widely associated with sorcery and bad luck. National Black Cat Appreciation Day, observed annually on August 17, was created to fight superstitions and celebrate adorable furballs that happen to be black.
Prekmurje Union Day is a memorial day in Slovenia, that is annually observed on August 17. This holiday celebrates the day, when the Slovenes of Prekmurje reunited with the mother nation.
On August 17, Jamaicans celebrate Marcus Garvey Day. It honors a Jamaican-born political activist, orator, publisher, journalist and entrepreneur who fought for the rights of Afro-Jamaicans.
Many countries have a special observance dedicated to the national flag, and Bolivia is not an exception. Bolivian Flag Day is celebrated on August 17 to commemorate the anniversary of the day when the design of the Bolivian flag was created.
August 17 is National Vanilla Custard Day. The term “custard” refers to a variety of culinary preparations made with milk or cream, egg yolks, and sugar. Depending on its consistency, custard can be served on its own or used as a filling for other desserts or dessert sauce.
If you’re all about reuse, upcycling and charity, you absolutely need to celebrate National Thrift Shop Day on August 17. This unofficial holiday was created to raise awareness about shops that charitable organizations run to raise money.
National I Love My Feet Day (sometimes styled as National I LOVE My Feet Day!) is celebrated annually on August 17. This holiday was created to remind people to take care of their feet because it contributes to their overall health.
Children's Day is celebrated in Argentina on the third Sunday in August. Although the date is fixed, Children's Day is often celebrated on other days due to the needs of Argentinian market, and it causes confusion among people.
National Nonprofit Day is observed annually on August 17. It was created to raise awareness of the importance of nonprofit organizations and celebrate the contribution of all the people who run nonprofits, work there, or volunteer for nonprofits.
Festivals on August 17, 2025
This Day in History
- 2019 A suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured.
- 2008 American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first athlete to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games (the 2008 Beijing Games).
- 2005 About 500 bomb explosions occurred in Bangladesh. Islamic fundamentalist organization Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh claimed responsibility.
- 1995 Born: Gracie Gold, American figure skater. She is a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, a six-time Grand Prix medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion.
- 1994 Born: Taissa Farmiga, American actress whose numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga.
- 1991 Born: Austin Butler, American actor. He gained wide prominence for his roles as Elvis Presley in Elvis and as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two.
- 1987 Died: Shaike Ophir, Israeli film actor, comedian, singer and accomplished mime. The Israeli Film Academy named an award in his honor.
- 1987 Died: Rudolf Hess, prominent politician in Nazi Germany. After World War II, he was convicted of crimes against peace and died in prison.
- 1983 Died: Ira Gershwin, American lyricist who created some of the best known songs of the 20th century with his brother, composer George Gershwin.
- 1982 Born: Mark Salling, American actor, musician and singer-songwriter best known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the series Glee.
- 1979 Died: John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer who was responsible for the revival of wooden roller coasters in the 1970s.
- 1977 The Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. The ship was retired in 2008.
- 1977 Born: Tarja Turunen, Finnish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the band Nightwish.
- 1970 The Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 was launched. It became the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet (Venus) back to Earth.
- 1969 Died: Otto Stern, German physicist who was awarded the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the proton's magnetic moment.
- 1968 Born: Helen McCrory, English actress of stage and screen. She is known to the general audience for her role as Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films.
- 1960 Born: Sean Penn, American actor, film director and politician. He has won two Academy Awards for his roles in Mystic River and Milk.
- 1950 North Korean army soldiers shot and killed 41 captured American POWs on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea (the Hill 303 massacre).
- 1943 The Royal Air Force launched Operation Hydra during World War II. It was the first time a master bomber was used for the main force.
- 1943 Born: Robert De Niro, American actor and film producer. He is known for his long and prolific collaboration with the film director Martin Scorsese, among other things.
- 1940 Died: Billy Fiske, American bobsled driver and pilot. He won two gold Olympic medals in 1928 and 1932. Fiske was killed in action during WWII.
- 1929 Born: Francis Gary Powers, American pilot whose spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace.
- 1911 Born: Mikhail Botvinnik, Soviet and Russian chess Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion, one of the greatest chess players of all time.
- 1908 The world's first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie, was shown in Paris, France. It was created by the French caricaturist Émile Cohl.
- 1896 Bridget Driscoll became the first pedestrian victim of an automobile collision in the United Kingdom. She was run over by a Benz car.
- 1893 Born: Mae West (Mary Jane West), American actress, singer, screenwriter, playwright and sex symbol whose career spanned seven decades.
- 1870 Died: Perucho Figueredo, Cuban poet, musician and freedom fighter. He is best known as the author of the Cuban national anthem.
- 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, began in Minnesota. It ended with a mass execution of 38 Dakota men.
- 1850 Died: José de San Martín, Argentine general and one of the leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence. He served as the Protector of Peru.
- 1798 Born: Thomas Hodgkin, English physician regarded as a pioneer in preventive medicine and one of the most prominent pathologists of his time.
- 1786 Died: Frederick II, King of Prussia from 1740 until his death. Due to his achievements during his reign, he became known as Frederick the Great.
- 1673 Died: Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist who is primarily remembered for his key discoveries in reproductive biology.
- 1648 The Battle of Preston began during the Second English Civil War. It ended on August 19, resulting in the decisive Parliamentarian victory.
- 1629 Born: John III Sobieski, King of Poland and and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death. He was very popular among his subjects.
- 1601 Born: Pierre de Fermat, French layer and mathematician. He is best known for Fermat's Last Theorem that was finally proved only in 1994.