Brooklyn Today for March 17
Good morning. Today is the 76th day of the year, and it is also St. Patrick’s Day. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of March 9, 1870, had an article about the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Brooklyn, which was scheduled for March 17 of that year. The procession was slated to begin on Division Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, proceed southwest to Court Street, go south on Court Street and then turn East on Atlantic Avenue, ending near Myrtle Avenue. The parade was accompanied by the annual dinner of the St. Patrick’s Society at the Brooklyn Athenium, at Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street. The Athenium was turned into a courthouse in 1902 and was torn down in 1942.
Well-known people who were born today include former basketball and baseball player Danny Ainge, actress Vicki Lewis (“NewsRadio”), actor Kurt Russell (“Backdraft,” “Elvis”), actor Gary Sinise (“Forrest Gump,” “Apollo 13”) and composer-musician Paul Horn.