History Brooklyn Boro

February 8, birthdays for Big Show, Seth Green, Klay Thompson

Brooklyn Today

February 8, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

WWE Wrestler Big Show celebrates his birthday today. AP file Photo/Dan Steinberg

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 37th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Seth Green and Alonzo Mourning, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Fire Won’t Stop Sculptor’s Whitman Memorial Plans.”

The article focused on a local sculptor whose designs for a memorial statue in honor of poet Walt Whitman were destroyed in a fire.

“For three years Keila, to whom Whitman was a hero, had worked on busts of the poet. He had three in clay and seven in casts of plaster, trying to get the perfect conception of Whitman. Then last week fire gutted the Lincoln Arcade Building in Manhattan, where Keila had his studio, and destroyed not only all the Whitman work, but all his other work as well, including paintings and sketches,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress BROOKE ADAMS, who was born in 1949; actor SETH GREEN, who was born in 1974; author JOHN GRISHAM, who was born in 1955; comedian and actor ROBERT KLEIN, who was born in 1942; journalist TED KOPPEL, who was born in 1940; Hall of Fame basketball player ALONZO MOURNING, who was born in 1970; actor NICK NOLTE, who was born in 1941; actress DAWN OLIVIERI, who was born in 1981; WWE wrestler BIG SHOW, who was born in 1972; Oscar Award-winning actress MARY STEENBURGEN, who was born in 1953; basketball star KLAY THOMPSON, who was born in 1990; and pianist, conductor and composer JOHN WILLIAMS, who was born in 1932.

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JAMES DEAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1931. The American stage, film and television actor achieved immense popularity during his brief career. Dean is best remembered for his role in “Rebel Without a Cause.” He died in a car accident in California in 1955 at age 24.

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JULES VERNE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1828. The author of “Around the World in Eighty Days,” “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and many other novels, he is sometimes referred to as “the father of science fiction.” Verne died in France in 1905.

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MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS WAS EXECUTED ON THIS DAY IN 1587. Mary Stuart, the queen regent of Scotland, was beheaded after being accused of plotting Queen Elizabeth I’s death.

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THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA WAS FOUNDED ON THIS DAY IN 1910. The organization was founded in Washington, D.C. by William Boyce.

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WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1820. As a Civil War general, he is remembered for his devastating march through Georgia during the war and for his statement “War is hell.” Sherman died in New York in 1891.

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OPERA DEBUTED IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES ON THIS DAY IN 1735. The opera was “Flora,” or “Hob in the Well,” written by Colley Cibber and was produced and performed at the Courtroom in South Carolina.

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ELIZABETH BISHOP WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1911. The award-winning poet and author published numerous volumes of poetry, including the acclaimed “Geography III” (1976), and during her career received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. Bishop died in 1979 in Boston.

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

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“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” — actor James Dean, who was born on this day in 1931