John Francis Mercer was a Founding Father of the United States, politician, lawyer, planter, and slave owner from Virginia and Maryland. An officer during the Revolutionary War, Mercer initially served in the Virginia House of Delegates and then the Maryland State Assembly.
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Dated facts from Wikidata; ages marked “about” come from year-only dates.
Every fact on this page traces to one of these.
Also born on May 17
Politician
1900–1989 · Iran
Ruhollah Mostafavi Khomeini was an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1936–2010 · United States
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He is considered one of the key figures of the New Hollywood era.
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Musician
1961 · Ireland
Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, known as Enya, is an Irish singer and composer. With an estimated equivalent of more than 80 million albums sold, she is one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Orlando Sentinel/ Associated Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1955–2017 · United States
William Paxton was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nominee, among other accolades.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1956–2022 · United States
Robert Lane Saget was an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and television host. He portrayed Danny Tanner on the sitcom Full House (1987–1995) and its sequel Fuller House (2016–2020).
Behind The Velvet Rope TV, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Scientist
1962 · Hungary
Ferenc Krausz is a Hungarian physicist working in attosecond science. He was a director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and a professor of experimental physics at LMU Munich in Germany.