What generation is someone born in 1917?¶

Someone born in 1917 belongs to the Greatest Generation (born 1914–1924). In 2026 they are 109 years old.

Notable people born in 1917¶

How old someone born in 1917 was when each defining event happened.

Year	Event	Their age	Life stage
1960	In Japan, NHK and NTV introduces color television	43	working
1963	John F Kennedy is assassinated	46	working
1964	First performance of the Beatles on the US Ed Sullivan show	47	working
1973	Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion	56	working
1974	Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal	57	working
1980	John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC	63	working
1981	MTV is launched	64	working
1985	Live Aid concert	68	retired
1986	Chernobyl nuclear disaster	69	retired
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall	72	retired
1990	The movie Home Alone hits the screens	73	retired
1995	Microsoft launches the Windows95 OS	78	retired
2001	September 11 attacks	84	retired
2004	Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure	87	retired
2005	Google buys Android mobile OS	88	retired
2007	Apple launches the first iPhone	90	retired
2009	The first Avatar movie hits the screens	92	retired
2011	Fukushima nuclear disaster	94	retired
2012	Psy releases "Gangnam Style"	95	retired
2016	Donald Trump wins the US elections	99	retired

Last updated: 2026-06-04