History Brooklyn Boro

October 26, birthdays for Hillary Clinton, Keith Urban, CM Punk

Brooklyn Today

October 26, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton celebrates her birthday today. AP Photo/John Locher, File

Share this:

Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 300th day of the year.

ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Biggest Week in Politics Is Here.”

The article focused on the upcoming elections throughout the state and the candidates running for office.

“The city’s vote is the mystery of the campaign,” the Eagle reported. “Both Republican and Democratic managers believe they can forecast the up-State vote with reasonable accuracy, but they have been able to get no angle on the city. Yet there is a firmly grounded idea on both sides that the city vote will be the deciding factor.”

****

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include professional wrestler PHILLIP “CM PUNK” BROOKS, who was born in 1978; actor TOM CAVANAUGH, who was born in 1968; former U.S. Secretary of State, former U.S. Sen. for N.Y., former first lady and current presidential Democratic nominee HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, who was born in 1947; Olympic medal-winning figure skater SASHA COHEN, who was born in 1984; basketball player NICK COLLISON, who was born in 1980; author PAT CONROY, who was born in 1945; actor CARY ELWES, who was born in 1962; hockey player MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF, who was born in 1976; actor DYLAN MCDERMOTT, who was born in 1962; singer NATALIE MERCHANT, who was born in 1963; actor JAMES PICKENS JR., who was born in 1954; TV personality JEFF PROBST, who was born in 1962; filmmaker IVAN REITMAN, who was born in 1946; game show host PAT SAJAK, who was born in 1946; artist and filmmaker JULIAN SCHNABEL, who was born in Brooklyn in 1951; actress JACLYN SMITH, who was born in 1947; and country singer and TV personality KEITH URBAN, who was born in 1969.

****

MAHALIA JACKSON was born on this day in 1911. Jackson was the most famous gospel singer of her time. After moving to Chicago from New Orleans in 1928, she sang with the Johnson Gospel Singers. Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of gospel music, was her adviser and accompanist from 1937 to 1946. By the 1950s, Jackson could be heard in concert halls around the world. She sang at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy and at the 1963 March on Washington rally. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described her voice as “one heard once in a millennium.” She died in 1972, and her funeral procession was thronged with mourners.

****

ABBY GREENE Aldrich Rockefeller was born on this day in 1874. A philanthropist and art patron, Rockefeller was one of the three founders of the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1929. She died in New York City in 1948.

****

“ST. ELSEWHERE” premiered on TV on this day in 1982. A popular one-hour medical drama set in St. Eligius Hospital in Boston starred (among its large and changing cast) Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley Jr., David Morse, Howie Mandel, Christina Pickles, Denzel Washington, Norman Lloyd, David Birney, G.W. Bailey, Kavi Raz, Stephen Furst, Mark Harmon and Alfre Woodard. The last episode of the series aired on Aug. 10, 1988.

****

THE ERIE CANAL opened on this day in 1825. The first U.S. major man-made waterway provides a water route from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. Construction started on July 4, 1817, and the canal cost around $7.6 million to complete. Cannons fired and celebrations were held all along the route for the opening.

****

THE BROOKLYN Historical Society will host “Voting Against Hunger: Presidential Elections and Food Assistance in the U.S.” tonight at 6:30 p.m. at 128 Pierrepont St. Sociologist, activist and author Jan Poppendieck will discuss how figures like FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan have dramatically changed the course of hunger in our country. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

****

BROOKLYN PUBLIC Library’s Central branch will host an author talk with Michael Woodsworth on his new book “Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York City” tonight at 7 p.m. He will speak on the people, organizations and philosophies that worked together to empower the residents of this historic community. For more information, visit bklynlibrary.org.

****

Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers, that the mind can never break off from the journey.” — The late Pat Conroy, who was born on this day in 1945