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February 17, birthdays for Michael Jordan, Paris Hilton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Brooklyn Today

February 17, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Michael Jordan celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 46th day of the year.

 

Notable people born on this day include Michael Jordan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among others.

 

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Considerate Thug Lets $177 Victim Stay in Out of Rain.”

The article focused on a polite robber who stole from a Brooklyn gas station.

“‘Don’t bother coming in out of the rain,’ said the well-dressed, considerate, young motorist to the station manager, Albert Neste, ‘I’ll come into the office.’ He did, and robbed Neste of $177,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include former gymnast VANESSA ATLER, who was born in 1982; Hall of Fame football player, activist and actor JIM BROWN, who was born in 1936; singer BELL BIV DEVOE, who was born in 1967; actress MICHELLE FORBES, who was born in 1967; Oscar Award-winning actress BRENDA FRICKER, who was born in 1945; actor JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, who was born in 1981; socialite and TV personality PARIS HILTON, who was born in 1981; Tony Award-winning actor HAL HOLBROOK, who was born in 1925; actor and comedian BARRY HUMPHRIES, who was born in 1934; Hall of Fame basketball player and basketball executive MICHAEL JORDAN, who was born in Brooklyn in 1963; actor RICHARD KARN, who was born in 1959; actor LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS, who was born in 1962; actress DENISE RICHARDS, who was born in 1971; actor JASON RITTER, who was born in 1980; and actress RENE RUSSO, who was born in 1954.

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THOMAS MALTHUS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1766.  The English scholar, demographer and author is best-known for his Malthusian population theories (especially that population growth exceeds growth of production), which provoked great controversy when published in 1798. Malthus died in England in 1834.

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“MADAMA BUTTERFLY” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1904. Giacomo Puccini’s opera was performed for the first time in Milan, Italy to a sold-out crowd. Restive at what they saw as Puccini’s lack of originality, the audience responded with boos, moos, groans and heckling to the extent that the performers couldn’t hear the orchestra. Rosina Storchio, the soprano portraying Madama Butterfly, began crying on stage. Puccini, enraged at the opera’s reception (saying it was “daisies thrown to swine”), nevertheless revised the work, and it had a successful performance that May.

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WALTER LANIER “RED” BARBER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1908. One of the first broadcasters inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his first professional play-by-play experience was announcing the Cincinnati Reds’ opening day on the radio in 1934. That game was also the first major league game he had ever seen. He broadcast baseball’s first night game in Brooklyn in 1939, the 1947 game in which Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and Roger Maris’ 61st home run in 1961. Barber died in Florida in 1992.

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GERONIMO DIED ON THIS DAY IN 1909. The American Indian of the Chiricahua (Apache) tribe was the leader of a small band of warriors whose devastating raids in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico caused the U.S. Army to send 5,000 men to recapture him after his first escape. He was confined in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he died after dictating the story of his life for publication.

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RENE THEOPHILE HYACINTHE LAENNEC WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1781. The famed French physician, author and inventor of the stethoscope is often called “the father of chest medicine.” He wrote extensively about respiratory and heart ailments. He died in France in 1826.

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

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“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself. After all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.” — comedian Barry Humphries, who was born on this day in 1934

 

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