History Brooklyn Boro

March 6, birthdays for Shaquille O’Neal, Jake Arrieta, D.L. Hughley

Brooklyn Today

March 6, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Alan Diaz

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 64th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Shaquille O’Neal and David Gilmour, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Hotels Expect to Halt Banquet Services Here.”

The article focused on the city’s effort to curb the consumption of processed foods.

“At the Hotel Bossert, for instance, a Brooklyn hostelry famed for its pre-war meals, James W. Simms, resident manager, disclosed today that the hotel has been cut to 17 percent of its December consumption of canned and processed foods, 24 percent of the sugar used in that month and 46 percent of the coffee consumed then,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor TOM ARNOLD, who was born on this day in 1959; baseball player JAKE ARRIETA, who was born in 1986; actress CONNIE BRITTO, who was born in 1968; singer and guitarist DAVID GILMOUR, who was born in 1944; economist and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board ALAN GREENSPAN, who was born in 1926; comedian and actor D.L. HUGHLEY, who was born in 1963; opera singer KIRI TE KANAWA, who was born in 1944; actor BEN MURPHY, who was born in 1942; BMX bike racer RYAN NYQUIST, who was born in 1979; former basketball player SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, who was born in 1972; actress AMY PIETZ, who was born in 1969; actor and director ROB REINER, who was born in 1947; and astronaut VALENTINA TERESHKOVA-NIKOLAEVA, who was born in 1937.

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MICHELANGELO WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1475. The prolific Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect and poet had a profound impact on Western art. His fresco painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican at Rome is often considered the pinnacle of his achievement in painting, as well as the highest achievement of the Renaissance. Also among his works were the sculptures David and The Pieta. Appointed architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1542, a post he held until his death in 1564 at Rome.

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ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1806. The English poet and author is best remembered for her “Sonnets from the Portuguese.” She was the wife of poet Robert Browning and the subject of the play “The Barretts of Wimpole Street.” She died in Italy in 1861.

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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. It is considered the most famous U.S. Supreme Court decision during the prewar slavery controversy. Dred Scott, a slave, had successfully petitioned for his freedom based on his previous residence in a free state and territory. In 1857, the Supreme Court overturned Missouri’s Supreme Court decision and declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote that slaves were property, not citizens, and that Congress had no power to restrict slavery in the territories.

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WILL EISNER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1917. The Brooklyn-born comic book artist created the popular and innovative “Spirit” comic book, started an educational comic book business, taught legions of students graphic narrative techniques and created the first graphic novel, “A Contract with God” (1978). The Eisner Awards were created in his honor in 1988 to recognize other bright lights in the field. Eisner died in 2005 in Florida.

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

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“There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.” — artist Michelangelo, who was born on this day in 1475