History Brooklyn Boro

February 28, birthdays for Jason Aldean, Gilbert Gottfried, John Turturro

Brooklyn Today

February 28, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Country music star Jason Aldean celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 58th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include John Turturro and Robert Sean Leonard, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Seizure of Trio Said to Crack Teen Knife Mob.”

The article focused on the arrest of a group of teenagers responsible for knife holdups in Bushwick, East New York and Queens.

“Two switchblades, the police said, were found in the stolen car after three youths were captured. They guessed the total loot stolen by the gang over the past few months amounted to more than $2,000,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include country singer JASON ALDEAN, who was born in 1977; former auto racer MARIO GABRIELLE ANDRETTI, who was born in 1940; architect FRANK GEHRY, who was born in 1929; comedian GILBERT GOTTFRIED, who was born in 1955; tennis player JELENA JANKOVIC, who was born in 1985; actress ALI LARTER, who was born in 1976; actor ROBERT SEAN LEONARD, who was born in 1969; former hockey player ERIC LINDROS, who was born in 1973; Tony Award-winning singer and actress BERNADETTE PETERS, who was born in 1944; Tony Award-winning actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer TOMMY TUNE, who was born in 1939; and actor JOHN TURTURRO, who was born in Brooklyn in 1957.

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BEN HECHT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1894. He is known for his newspaper column “1,001 Afternoons in Chicago,” which popularized human interest sketches. His play “The Front Page,” written with Charles MacArthur, was a hit on Broadway and on film. He was a successful reporter and his first novel “Eric Dorn” resulted partly from his time reporting from Berlin after WWI. Hecht wrote or co-wrote a number of successful movie scripts, including “Notorious” and “Wuthering Heights.” He died in New York City in 1964.

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CHARLES BLONDIN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1824. The daring French acrobat is remembered for his 1895 conquest of Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Blondin died in 1897 in England.

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MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1533. The French essayist and philosopher was one of the most significant thinkers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. Montaigne died in France in 1592.

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ALTICE USA, SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL AND MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE WILL HOST a screening of “THE OBAMA YEARS: THE POWER OF WORDS” at Medgar Evers College tonight at 7 p.m. The film will look back at former President Barack Obama’s legacy as a world-class orator and “writer in chief.” It will take viewers inside the defining moments of his political career through the prism of his most memorable speeches. Narrated by Jesse Williams, star of the hit series “Grey’s Anatomy,” this program also features insights from eminent historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Douglas Brinkley and key members of Obama’s inner circle, including Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Chief Strategist David Axelrod and speechwriters Jon Favreau and Cody Keenan. There will be a panel discussion after the screening. For more information, contact [email protected].

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

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“The beautiful souls are they that are universal, open and ready for all things.” — philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who was born on this day in 1533