History Brooklyn Boro

December 16, birthdays for Krysten Ritter, JB Smoove, Zara Larsson

Brooklyn Today

December 16, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actress Krysten Ritter celebrates her birthday today. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 351st day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Lesley Stahl and Benjamin Bratt, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “One Bandit Killed; Two Officers Shot in L.I. Gun Fight.”

The article focused on a gun fight between two officers and three suspected burglars.

“It was about 11:30 at night when the shooting took place. The moving pictures theater had discharged their crowds. There were few persons on the street and even fewer cars. A slender moon was sinking at the horizon … Suddenly the silence was shattered by the rapid reports of the pistol shots which came so swiftly that they seemed to run into each other,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include biochemist and cancer researcher BRUCE N. AMES, who was born in 1928; TV writer and producer STEVEN BOCHCO, who was born in 1943; actor BENJAMIN BRATT, who was born in 1963; actor THEO JAMES, who was born in 1984; actress ALISON LA PLACA, who was born in 1959; pop singer ZARA LARSSON, who was born in 1997; former football player WILLIAM “THE REFRIGERATOR” PERRY, who was born in 1962; actress KRYSTEN RITTER, who was born in 1981; comedian and actor JB SMOOVE, who was born in 1965; journalist LESLEY STAHL, who was born in 1941; actor JON TENNEY, who was born in 1961; and actress LIV JOHANNE ULLMAN, who was born in 1939.

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JANE AUSTEN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1775. The English novelist is known for such works as “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility,” which explore women’s dependence on marriage to gain a favorable economic and social standing. She died in England in 1817.

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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. In 1773, the Sons of Liberty boarded three British vessels at anchor at Griffin’s Wharf in the Boston Harbor. Contents of 342 chests of tea — the entire East India Company shipment — were dumped into the harbor as a protest against the Tea Act of 1773 by the American colonists.

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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1770. Regarded by many as the greatest orchestral composer of all time, Beethoven began losing his hearing before he was 30, but even total deafness did not halt his composing and conducting. His last appearance on the concert stage was to conduct the premiere of his “Ninth Symphony” in Vienna. He was unable to hear either the orchestra or the applause. He died in Vienna in 1827.

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ARTHUR C. CLARKE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1917. Clarke was a popular writer of science fiction in the 20th century. His short story “The Sentinel” served as the inspiration for the film classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.” He died in Sri Lanka in 2008.

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MARGARET MEAD WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1901. The influential and at times controversial anthropologist and author is known for her studies of peoples of the South Pacific. She died in 1978 in New York.

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

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“Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — anthropologist Margaret Mead, who was born on this day in 1901