MILESTONES: October 6, birthdays for Jeremy Sisto, Britt Ekland, Rebecca Lobo

Brooklyn Today

October 6, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jeremy Sisto. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 281st day of the year.

On this day in 1942, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that Norway and Denmark had reached their boiling point and planned a revolt against the martial law that occupying Nazi forces, under the orders of German Reichkommissar Josef Terhoven, had declared against the two Scandinavian countries, particularly in Trondheim Fjord, near Norway’s western coast. Nazi economist Dr. Andreas Predoehl predicted that Scandinavia would be incorporated into “Germany’s Greater Europe.” In Norway, the Nazis imposed curfews, restricted traffic, closed theaters and prohibited any meetings of more than three persons. The martial law had the effect of bolstering resistance on the part of Norwegians against the Nazi forces. Norway and Denmark each had organized resistance movements. Visitors to Oslo can now visit the Norwegian Resistance Museum.

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On this day in 1947, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page carried a banner headline asking people to eat less. The Eagle reported on President Harry S. Truman’s Food Conservation Drive, whereby Americans would eat less so that those starving in Europe could be fed. Restaurants around New York, including their related trade associations, went on record as agreeing to participate, with Schrafft’s being the first to lay out a plan. The Hotel St. George, while agreeing to conform to the conservation drive, had yet to announce a plan on implementing it … The Eagle’s above-masthead banner also heralded the Gregg-Shea pitching fight for Game 7 of the World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees. The Eagle reported 14,500 fans in the bleachers, in which was described as the “dizziest, daffiest, and most delirious Series in history.” Dodgers pitcher Hal Gregg battled Frank Shea for the 1947 title, but this deciding game — and that World Series would go to the Yankees.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress BRITT EKLAND, who was born in 1942; sportscaster and former basketball player REBECCA LOBO, who was born in 1973; actress ELISABETH SHUE, who was born in 1963; actor JEREMY SISTO, who was born in 1974; and actress STEPHANIE ZIMBALIST, who was born in 1956.

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HELEN MOODY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1905. One of the greatest tennis players of the 20th century, Moody had a phenomenal professional career with a .919 winning average. She won 52 out of 92 tournaments between 1919 and 1938. She won the Wimbledon eight out of nine tries, the U.S. Open seven times and the French Open four times. From 1927 to 1932, she did not lose one single set in any singles competition. A 1924 Olympic gold medal winner for singles and doubles, Moody also became the first player to win a grand slam (1928). She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969. She died in 1998.

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ANWAR EL-SADAT WAS ASSASSINATED ON THIS DAY IN 1981. The then-Egyptian president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient was killed by assassins in Cairo while he was reviewing a military parade commemorating the 1973 Egyptian-Israeli Ward. At least either other people were reported killed in the attack on Sadat.

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GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1846. The New York-born engineer and inventor of the air brake for trains was also the first employer to give his employees paid vacations. Westinghouse died in 1914 in New York.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Brooklyn Art Song Society Presents La France I: Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel” tonight at 7 p.m. Brooklyn Art Song Society will open its eighth season with the first concert in its five-concert festival La France, featuring some of the best-loved melodies by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Highlights include Debussy’s epic setting of Paul Verlaine, Ariettes oubliées sung by soprano Kristina Bachrach and Ravel’s dashing Don Quichotte à Dulcinée performed by Steven LaBrie. Additional artists will include mezzo soprano Samantha Malk, baritone Jesse Blumberg and pianists Brent Funderburk and Miori Sugiyama. The concert will be preceded by a pre-concert lecture by Columbia professor Marilyn McCoy. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

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

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“If someday they say of me that in my work I have contributed something to the welfare and happiness of my fellow man, I shall be satisfied.” — George Westinghouse, who was born on this day in 1846