History Brooklyn Boro

March 11, birthdays for Rupert Murdoch, Terrence Howard, Didier Drogba

Brooklyn Today

March 11, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Rupert Murdoch celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 71st day of the year.

ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “350 Guests Escape from Hotel Blaze.”

The article focused on a fire in Hotel Gerard in Manhattan where all of the guests were able to escape unharmed.

“Firemen with ladders carried many of the women and children from the hotel, and policemen aided in the work of rescue,” the Eagle reported. “Many of the guests fled to the street in their night clothing, or to the roof, while others made hasty exit to an adjacent building by the fire escapes on the western side of the hotel and escaped unhurt.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor John Barrowman, who was born in 1967; basketball player Elton Brand, who was born in 1979; astronaut Curtis Brown Jr., who was born in 1956; journalist Sam Douglas, who was born in 1934; soccer player Didier Drogba, who was born in 1978; actor Terrence Howard, who was born in 1969; actress Alex Kingston, who was born in 1963; jazz musician, singer, songwriter and composer Bobby McFerrin, who was born in New York City 1950; media executive Rupert Murdoch, who was born in 1931; and writer and producer Jerry Zucker, who was born in 1950.

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THE LATE SUPREME Court Justice Antonin Scalia was born on this day in 1936. Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and served until his death on Feb. 13, 2016.

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THE BROOKLYN BOTANIC Garden will host its annual event, Making Brooklyn Bloom, this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 990 Washington Ave. The event includes workshops, exhibits, demonstrations, films and more to inspire and engage gardeners of every type and level of experience. For more information, visit bbg.org/mbb.

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ST. FRANCIS COLLEGE will present “The Confined Arts: Solitary Confinement Edition,” a showcase by formerly incarcerated prisoners on how art and poetry can transcend prison walls while drawing the inhumanity of solitary confinement to sharp focus. The event will take place at 180 Remsen St. from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit sfc.edu.

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READ BROOKLYN will host its first annual authors book fair on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Brooklyn Museum’s Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 200 Eastern Parkway. Attendees will explore new fiction and nonfiction works by more than 40 Brooklyn-based authors. For more information, visit brooklynmuseum.org.

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