What happened on your birthday?

What’s Your Vietnam War Draft Lottery Number?

The Vietnam War draft lottery ran from 1969 to 1972. If you were born on November 17, would your number have been called?

  • Vietnam War 1969 Lottery
    CalledDrafted
    143
  • Vietnam War 1970 Lottery
    CalledDrafted
    6
  • Vietnam War 1971 Lottery
    Not CalledNot drafted
    298
  • Vietnam War 1972 Lottery
    Not CalledNot drafted
    284

Read on to learn more about the Vietnam war draft lottery.

What happened today

1993

Gen. Sani Abacha leads a military coup in Nigeria that overthrows the government of Ernest Shonekan.

Famous birthdays

1887

Bernard Law Montgomery, British field marshal who defeated Rommel in North Africa and led Allied troops from D-Day to the end of World War II.

more events on November 17

  • 2000

    Controversial President of Peru Alberto Fujimori removed from office.

  • 1993

    Gen. Sani Abacha leads a military coup in Nigeria that overthrows the government of Ernest Shonekan.

  • US House of Representatives passes resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.

  • 1989

    Student demonstration in Prague put down by riot police, leading to an uprising (the Velvet Revolution) that will topple the communist government on Dec. 29.

  • 1986

    Renault President Georges Besse is shot to death by leftists of the Direct Action Group in Paris.

  • 1980

    WHHM Television in Washington, D.C., becomes the first African-American public-broadcasting television station.

  • 1970

    Soviet unmanned Luna 17 touches down on the moon.

  • 1967

    The American Surveyor 6 makes a six-second flight on the moon, the first liftoff on the lunar surface.

  • 1965

    The NVA ambushes American troops of the 7th Cavalry at Landing Zone Albany in the Ia Drang Valley, almost wiping them out.

  • 1951

    Britain reports development of the world’s first nuclear-powered heating system.

  • 1949

    Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam (2006– )

  • 1944

    Lorne Michaels, israeli-American TV producer; created Saturday Night Live.

  • Danny DeVito, actor, director, producer (Taxi TV series; Throw Momma from the Train, Pulp Fiction).

  • Gene Clark, singer, songwriter; member of the bands The Byrds, The New Christy Minstrels, and Dillard & Clark.

  • 1942

    Martin Scorsese, film director (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull).

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