August 31, birthdays for Larry Fitzgerald, Chris Tucker, Pepe Reina

Brooklyn Today

August 31, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Football superstar Larry Fitzgerald celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Ralph Freso

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 244th day of the year.

ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Seek Boro Man in Huge Plot to Swindle Banks.”

The article focused on seven people who were involved in a plot to swindle banking houses by means of forged checks.

“It is alleged that the forgeries, which were carried on with the assistance of a bank employee, have netted the band approximately $114,000,” the Eagle reported. “Six of the seven accused are residents of Brooklyn and Queens.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include basketball coach and former player Jennifer Azzi, who was born in 1968; football player Larry Fitzgerald, who was born in 1983; singer Debbie Gibson, who was born in Brooklyn in 1970; Olympic gold medal-winning skier Ted Ligety, who was born in 1984; singer and songwriter Van Morrison, who was born in 1945; Olympic gold medal-winning track athlete Edwin Corley Moses, who was born in 1955; former baseball player Hideo Nomo, who was born in 1968; violinist Itzhak Perlman, who was born in 1945; actress Sara Ramirez, who was born in 1975; soccer player Pepe Reina, who was born in 1982; Hall of Fame baseball player and former baseball executive and manager Frank Robinson, who was born in 1935; actor Jack Thompson, who was born in 1940; Squeeze singer and musician Glenn Tilbrook, who was born in 1957; and actor Chris Tucker, who was born in 1972.

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DIANA, PRINCESS OF Wales, died on this day in 1997. The princess died in a car crash with her companion, Dodi Fayed, in Paris. Although press photographers had been pursuing her car, French courts determined that the paparazzi were not responsible for the crash, but rather a driver operating under the influence of alcohol. Diana, a very popular British royal who worked on behalf of many charities, was mourned all over the world.

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WILLIAM SHAWN was born on this day in 1907. Shawn was the editor of The New Yorker for 35 years, and was the virtual dictator of editorial policy for the magazine, which in turn had an impact on the literary and reportorial styles of writers throughout the country. Nonfiction pieces in The New Yorker contributed to public opinion on important issues during his tenure. Shawn died in New York City in 1992.

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LUNA PARK AT Coney Island will donate a portion of all ticket sales today to the Daybreak Foundation and the National Organization for Rare Disorders. For more information on these organizations, visit daybreakfoundation.org and rarediseases.org.

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BROOKLYN BRIDGE Park will host “Bugs of Pier 6” as part of its Wednesday Night Tour series tonight at 6:30 p.m. along the Pier 6 Promenade. The park’s gardner Abigail Derick will lead a tour of the Pier 6 Flower Field and its insect inhabitants. For more information, visit brooklynbridgepark.org.

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

“In order to win you must be prepared to lose sometime. And leave one or two cards showing.” — Van Morrison, who was born on this day in 1945.