History Brooklyn Boro

March 16, birthdays for Blake Griffin, Lauren Graham, Judah Friedlander

Brooklyn Today

March 16, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Basketball superstar Blake Griffin celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Mark J. Terril

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 74th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Blake Griffin and Jerry Lewis, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Insanity as Murder Defense in Federal Court First Time.”

The article focused on the first time in the history of the Brooklyn Federal Court that insanity was used as a defense during a trial.

“It was raised by former Assistant Federal Attorney James E. Wilkinson, recently assigned to defend Albert Smith, an army sergeant, who is charged with shooting his wife to death in their cottage at Miller Field, Staten Island, last Jan. 1,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Oscar Award-winning filmmaker BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, who was born in 1941; actor ERIK ESTRADA, who was born in 1949; actor JUDAH FRIEDLANDER, who was born in 1969; actor VICTOR GARBER, who was born in 1949; actress LAUREN GRAHAM, who was born in 1967; basketball player BLAKE GRIFFIN, who was born in 1989; football player TODD HEAP, who was born in 1980; writer ALICE HOFFMAN, who was born in 1952; actress ISABELLE HUPPERT, who was born in 1955; comedian, actor, director and philanthropist JERRY LEWIS, who was born in 1926; actress KATE NELLIGAN, who was born in 1951; actor ALAN TUDYK, who was born in 1971; and game show host CHUCK WOOLERY, who was born in 1942.

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ROSA BONHEUR WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1822. The French painter and sculptor is best known for her paintings of animals. With the income from the sale of her art, she purchased the castle of By near Fontainebleau at Melun, France, where she died in 1899. Bonheur’s “The Horse Fair,” which she painted in 1853, was purchased by the American millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt for $53,600, a record price at the time. In 1865 Bonheur was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur, the first woman so honored. An early bohemian and feminist, Bonheur defied female convention of the day by dressing in pants and smoking cigarettes.

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JAMES MADISON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1751. As the fourth president of the U.S., Madison was forced to flee the capitol when British forces invaded Washington, D.C. and burned his residence and most other public buildings in 1814. He died in Virginia in 1836.

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GEORG SIMON OHM WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1789. The German physicist is lauded for his eponymous law, which states the exact relationship of potential and current in electric conduction. Ohm’s Law made it possible for scientists to calculate the amount of current, voltage and resistance in circuitry, establishing the science of electrical engineering. Lord Kelvin recognized Ohm’s contribution by dubbing the unit of resistance the “ohm” and its reciprocal, the unit of conductance, the “mho.” Ohm died in Germany in 1854.

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TODAY IS NO SELFIES DAY. Every day millions take a self-portrait with their cell phone cameras and post the pictures on social networks. No one knows why. Here is just one day where nobody takes a selfie. It is observed on the birthday of Philippe Kahn, the inventor of the cellphone camera and the first person known to transmit a photo: a birth picture of his daughter taken in 1997 with his cellphone.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “THE LEGACY OF Jane Jacobs” tonight at 6:30 p.m. In 1960, Jacobs’ book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds. New York Times columnist Ginia Bellafante will speak to Matt Tyrnauer, director and producer of the acclaimed documentary “Citizen Jane: Battle For the City;” Robert Hammond, co-founder and executive director of Friends of the High Line; and Dr. Samuel Zipp, associate professor of American and urban studies at Brown University and co-editor of “Vital Little Plans: The Short Works of Jane Jacobs,” about Jacobs’ extraordinary impact on the urban landscape. 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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“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.” — fourth U.S. President James Madison, who was born on this day in 1751