17 January in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 17 January is the birth anniversary of Babu Gulabrai, Dattatreya Ramchandra Kaprekar, L.V. Prasad, Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, and Rangeya Raghav.
17 January is also observed as the death anniversary of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Jyoti Basu, and Suchitra Sen.
Birth Anniversary
17 January in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Babu Gulabrai (17 January 1888 – 13 April 1963), an Indian literary figure, essayist, and satirist. He always gave importance to simple literature, so that the Hindi language could reach the masses. Gulabrai Ji has composed two types of works – philosophical and literary. His philosophical works are the result of his serious study and contemplation.
Dattatreya Ramchandra Kaprekar (17 January 1905 – 1986), an Indian mathematician. He made many contributions in the field of number theory, among which Kaprekar number and Kaprekar constant are prominent. The Kaprekar number and the Demlo number were discovered by Dattatreya Ramachandra. He was born on 17 January 1905 in Dahanu, Maharashtra.
L.V. Prasad (17 January 1908 – 22 June 1994), a successful filmmaker, producer-director, and actor in Indian cinema. He was successful in various languages of South India as well as in Hindi films. He made many entertaining films with social objectives. He was born on 17 January 1908 in Andhra Pradesh.
Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), a famous actor, film producer-director of Tamil films who later entered politics and became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. From 1977 to his death in 1987, he was the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. H He was born on 17 January 1917 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Rangeya Raghav (17 January 1923 – 12 September 1962), a writer of extraordinary talent. He was one of the distinguished and versatile genius of Hindi. His original name was TNB Acharya (Tirumallai Nambakam Veeraraghava Acharya). There is probably no such part of Hindi literature where Dr. Rangeya Raghav, a seeker of Hindi literature, has not used his spiritual practice. He was an exclusive worshiper of Hindi literature with a fair complexion, a raised forehead, a long nose, and a sincere smile on his face. He was a Tamil native Iyengar Brahmin of the Ramanujacharya tradition. Raghav was born on 17 January 1923.
Read More: 16 January in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
17 January in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala (17 June 1903 – 17 January 1951), a noted litterateur, freedom fighter, and film producer. He was a man of multi-faceted and extraordinary talent. The auspicious arrival of Jyoti Prasad Aggarwal came at a time when Assamese culture and civilization were getting disintegrated from their original form. Jyoti Prasad Aggarwal, rich in versatility, was a playwright, storyteller, lyricist, letter editor, composer, singer everything. At the age of 14, he had enriched Assamese literature by composing the play ‘Shonit Kunwari’. He died on 17 January 1951 in Tezpur, Assam.
Jyoti Basu (8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010), one of the foremost leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), served in West Bengal for 23 years. He got special fame in parliamentary politics by being the Chief Minister continuously. Basu was one of the founders of communist politics in India. He died on 17 January 2010 in Kolkata.
Suchitra Sen (6 April 1931 – 17 January 2014), an actress in Hindi and Bengali films. She became very popular all-over West Bengal especially because of her acting with Uttam Kumar. The pair of Uttam-Suchitra is the best pair of Bengali cinemas even today. She is the first Indian actress to be awarded an award at an international film festival. She died on 17 January 2014.
Read More: 15 January in Indian and World History
Notable events on 17 January in Indian and World history
17 January 1601 – The Mughal emperor Akbar entered the Abhed Fort of Asirgarh.
17 January 1601 – France received the Bages Volromey, Bres, and Gex region after France made an agreement with Spain.
17 January 1757 – Germany declared war on Prussia.
17 January 1852 – Britain recognized the independence of the Transvaal of South Africa.
17 January 1863 – Konstantin Stanislavski, a seminal Soviet Russian theatre practitioner, was born.
17 January 1877 – Cecilia May Gibbs, an Australian children’s author, illustrator, and cartoonist, was born.
17 January 1911 – George Joseph Stigler was an American economist and Nobel Prize laureate.
17 January 1913 – Raymond Poincare was elected President of France.
17 January 1915 – Russia occupied Western Ukraine and Bukovina.
17 January 1917 – The US bought the Virgin Islands for $25 million.
17 January 1925 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, a Pakistani cricketer, was born.
17 January 1933 – Dalida, an Italian-French singer and actress, was born.
17 January 1941 – Freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose left for Germany from Calcutta.
17 January 1946 – The first meeting of the United Nations Security Council was held.
17 January 1949 – Volkswagen’s first Beetle arrived in the US from Germany.
17 January 1976 – The Hermus rocket was launched by the European Space Agency.
17 January 1979 – The Soviet Union conducted nuclear tests.
17 January 1980 – FLATSCOM-3 was launched by NASA on this day.
17 January 1985 – Indian cricketer Azharuddin scored his second Test century against England.
17 January 1989 – Colonel JK Bajaj became the first Indian to reach the North Pole.
17 January 1995 – Many people were killed in the earthquake in Kobe, Japan.
17 January 2002 – Camilo Jose Cela was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer, and Nobel Prize laureate.
17 January 2007 – Australian cricketer Michael Bevan retired from international cricket.
17 January 2009 – Randhir Singh, the general secretary of the Indian Olympic Association, resigned from his post.
17 January 2013 – About 40 people were killed in the serial bombings in Iraq.
17 January 2015– Faten Hamama – an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer – died.