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1860 On this day, 17 January 1860, Douglas Hyde was born in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. His passion in life was the preservation of the Irish language, and he was a founder member of the Gaelic League – an influential organisation promoting Irish culture and language. He was also the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945.
More about Douglas Hyde and his quotes.
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1932 On this day, 17 January 1932, Louis Brennan died. He was an Irish-Australian mechanical engineer and inventor. He was born in Castlebar, Ireland in 1852, and moved to Melbourne when he was nine years old. He was the inventor of the guided missile, an innovative monorail system and he created a steerable torpedo – it was a cotton reel that gave him the inspiration for a steerable torpedo.
See full article here
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1927 Thomas Anthony Dooley III was an Irish American born on this day in 1927. He served in the US military as a physician but is most remembered for his humanitarian work in Asia.
He travelled around Vietnam and Laos, and campaigned against what he considered the two great evils the people faced: disease and communism.
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1964 Happy birthday to Michelle Fairley, born on this day in 1964 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Fairley is a recognisable face on television around the world, having starred in US series such as Game of Thrones as Lady Catelyn Stark and Suits as Ava Hessington.
Fairley has also had roles in films including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Philomena.
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1986 Happy birthday to Lucy Evangelista, born on this day in 1986 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. She was named Miss Northern Ireland winner in 2005, and also got to the finals of the Miss World pageant that year, finishing in the top 15.
That was the highest placed finish of any of the British girls, so Evangelista was also named 2005 Miss United Kingdom.
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