About the day » Wednesday January 17, 1940Calender converter

• Blanche Martha King, North Carolina
• Marinus Petrus Machielse, Fijnaart en Heijningen, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Gerard Dulfer, Ede, Gelderland, Netherlands († 2003)
• Eduardo Soto, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia († 1997)
• Eppe Krijgsheld, Garsthuizen († 1993)
• Gerda van KLAVEREN, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 2019)
• Frances M. Brands, Rock Valey Sioux Iowa, Verenigde Staten († 2011)
• Jan Gertrud Lambert (Sjeng) VROOMEN, Heerlen (NL/LI) Hoensbroek (NL/LI) († 1962)
• Frederik Johan Faber, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland († 1957)
• Liesbeth Agema, Kommerzijl († 2004)

• Adriana Kools (71), Zevenbergen
• Joseph Sperber (74), Geertruidenberg
• Alida Rijsberman (74), Hilversum
• Aaltje Brander (55), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Angélique Françoise Virginie Marie de Kuijper (67), Oss, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Trijntje Vierdag (75), Ooststellingwerf
• Aafje de Lange (76), Harderwijk
• Adriana Rouda Ritmeester (91), Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Aloysius Joseph Schulte (82), Iowa City, Iowa, Verenigde Staten
• Abraham de Lange (58), Overschie, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

• 1938 » John Bellairs, American author and academic († 1991)
• 1938 » Toini Gustafsson, Swedish cross country skier
• 1939 » Christodoulos of Athens, Greek archbishop († 2008)
• 1939 » Maury Povich, American talk show host and producer
• 1940 » Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan athlete
• 1940 » Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch († 2015)
• 1940 » Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguayan physician and politician, 39th President of Uruguay
• 1941 » István Horthy, Jr., Hungarian physicist and architect
• 1942 » Ita Buttrose, Australian journalist and author
• 1942 » Muhammad Ali, American boxer and activist († 2016)

• 1930 » Gauhar Jaan, One of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India. (b. 1873)
• 1931 » Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (b. 1864)
• 1932 » Ahmet Derviş, Turkish general (b. 1881)
• 1932 » Albert Jacka, Australian captain, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1893)
• 1933 » Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (b. 1848)
• 1936 » Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1885)
• 1942 » Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884)
• 1947 » Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (b. 1883)
• 1947 » Pyotr Krasnov, Russian historian and general (b. 1869)
• 1951 » Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director (b. 1903)

1. Jan
2. Johannes
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Willem
6. Gerrit
7. Pieter
8. Jacob
9. Adrianus
10. Robert
11. Petrus
12. Jacobus
13. Wilhelmus
14. Gerardus
15. Dirk
16. Arie

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Anna
4. Cornelia
5. Elisabeth
6. Wilhelmina
7. Hendrika
8. Adriana
9. Catharina
10. Petronella
11. Geertruida
12. Jacoba
13. Annie
14. Margaretha
15. Marie
16. Helena

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 10, 1939 to September 3, 1940 the cabinet De Geer II, with Jonkheer mr. D.J. de Geer (CHU) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from September 3, 1940 to July 27, 1941 the cabinet Gerbrandy I, with Prof. dr. P.S. Gerbrandy (ARP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 8.8 million citizens.
• April 25 » Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
• June 3 » World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
• July 11 » World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
• September 27 » World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
• November 11 » World War II: In the Battle of Taranto, the Royal Navy launches the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history.
• November 16 » New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

The temperature on January 17, 1940 was between -12.1 °C and -6.4 °C and averaged -9.3 °C. There was 1.1 mm of rain during 3.3 hours. There was 3.5 hours of sunshine (42%). The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the northeast.