List of Famous people born on October 17th

Karl Gordon Henize was an American astronomer, space scientist, NASA astronaut, and professor at Northwestern University. He was stationed at several observatories around the world, including McCormick Observatory, Lamont-Hussey Observatory, Mount Wilson Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Mount Stromlo Observatory (Australia). He was a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 15 and Skylab 2, 3, and 4. As a mission specialist on the Spacelab-2 mission (STS-51-F), he flew on Space Shuttle Challenger in July/August 1985. He was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1974.

Stefan Weber is a German Orientalist and director of the Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. Previously, he was assistant professor of material history at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations of Aga Khan University in London.

Pradnya Gadre is an Indian badminton player from Nashik, Maharashtra who currently plays doubles and mixed doubles. She partners Ashwini Ponnappa for women's doubles events. The other partners she earlier paired up for women's doubles are Jyotshna P, Prajakta Sawant, Nitya Sosale. She is married to Indian badminton player Pranav Chopra. For mixed doubles Events she partners with Akshay Dewalkar, earlier it was Pranaav Jerry Chopra. She is sponsored by Flypower-arbi sports.

Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr. was an American stage, film and television actor. Howard Rollins was best known for his role as Andrew Young in 1978's King, George Haley in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the 1981 film Ragtime, Captain Davenport in the 1984 film A Soldier's Story, and as Virgil Tibbs on the TV crime drama In the Heat of the Night. In the fall of 1996, Rollins was diagnosed with AIDS. Six weeks later, he died at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York at the age of 46, from complications from AIDS-related lymphoma. As was typical at the time, his publicist issued a statement claiming he suffered from lymphatic cancer. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in his native Baltimore.