17 November: today's birthdays

• Joseph Jules François Félix Babinski - French neurologist of Polish descent, best-known for his description of the Babinski sign
• Michail Michajlovič Bachtin (Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin) - Russian philosopher, semiotician, historian, and literary critic 
• John Boehner - American politician
• Terry Branstad - American politician, 42nd Governor of Iowa
• Robert Graysmith - American true crime author and political cartoonist
• Rock Hudson - American actor. He starred in Giant and Magnificent Obsession
• Rem Koolhaas - Dutch architect, urban planner and writer. He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000
• Sophie Marceau - French actress, film director and screenwriter
• Elise Mertens - Belgian professional tennis player. 
• Isamu Noguchi - American artist and landscape architect of Japanese descent
• Martin Scorsese - American film director, screenwriter and producer, born Martin Charles Scorsese. He directed Taxi Driver in 1976, and he won the Oscar for Best Director in 2006 with the film The Departed
• Lev Semënovič Vygotskij (Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky) - Russian psychologist. He recognized the importance of the influence of the social context