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January 4, birthdays for Kris Bryant, Toni Kroos, Graham Elliot

Brooklyn Today

January 4, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the fourth day of the year.

 

Notable people born on this day include Michael Stipe and Don Shula, among others.

 

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ON THIS DAY IN 1955, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Bill Could Make Bingo Legal Within 7 Days.”

 

The article focused on Brooklyn Assemblymember Eugene Bannigan and his attempt to make bingo legal in New York.

 

“Under the reported provisions of the Bannigan bill, bingo will not actually be made constitutional right away. But the criminal penalties for running the games of chance would be removed, in much the same manner as the Lehman administration ‘legalized’ bookmaking at racetracks while pari-mutuel betting was slowly being made constitutional,” the Eagle reported.

 

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include baseball star KRIS BRYANT, who was born in 1992; actress DYAN CANNON, who was born in 1937; author HARLAN COBEN, who was born in 1962; celebrity chef GRAHAM ELLIOT, who was born in 1977; actor and comedian DAVE FOLEY, who was born in 1962; historian DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, who was born in Brooklyn in 1943; soccer star TONI KROOS, who was born in 1990; performance artist and actress ANN MAGNUSON, who was born in 1956; actress JULIA ORMOND, who was born in 1965; actress BARBARA RUSH, who was born in 1927; Hall of Fame football coach and player DON SHULA, who was born in 1930; and singer MICHAEL STIPE, who was born in 1960.

 

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TODAY IS WORLD BRAILLE DAY. Louis Braille created a simple, effective and revolutionary tactile system of communication for the blind in 1824. Permanently blinded at the age of 3 by a leatherworking awl in his father’s saddle-making shop, he developed a system of writing that used an awl-like stylus to punch marks in paper that could be felt and interpreted by people who are blind. This day is observed on his birth anniversary and commemorates his life and work. For more information, visit worldbraillefoundation.com.

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JACOB GRIMM WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1785. The librarian, mythologist and philologist is best remembered for “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” (in collaboration with his brother Wilhelm). He died in Berlin in 1863.

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SIR ISAAC NEWTON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1643. Newton was the chief figure of the scientific revolution of the 17th century, a physicist and mathematician who laid the foundations of calculus, studied the mechanics of planetary motion and discovered the law of gravitation. He died in 1727 in London.

 

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THE EARTH WILL REACH PERIHELION TODAY. At approximately 9:18 a.m. planet Earth will reach perihelion, that point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun. Earth’s mean distance from the sun (mean radius of its orbit) is reached early in the months of April and October. Note that Earth is closest to the sun during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

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THE POP MUSIC CHART WAS INTRODUCED ON THIS DAY IN 1936. Billboard magazine published the first list of bestselling pop records, covering the week that ended Dec 30, 1935. On the list were recordings by the Tommy Dorsey and the Ozzie Nelson orchestras.

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BENJAMIN RUSH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1746. The physician, patriot and humanitarian of the American Revolution was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his writings on mental illness earned him the title “Father of Psychiatry.” His tract “Inquiry” attacked the common wisdom of the time that alcohol was beneficial. He was the first American to call alcoholism a chronic disease. Rush died in Philadelphia in 1813.

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ALVIN AILEY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1931. Ailey began his noted career as a choreographer in the late 1950s after a successful career as a dancer. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, drawing from classical ballet, jazz, Afro-Caribbean and modern dance idioms to create the 79 ballets of the company’s repertoire. He and his work played a central part in establishing a role for blacks in the world of modern dance. He died in New York in 1989.

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

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“How often when we are comfortable, we begin to long for something new!” — philologist Jacob Grimm, who was born on this day in 1785

 

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