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MILESTONES: May 25, birthdays for Ian McKellen, Aly Raisman, Octavia Spencer

Brooklyn Today

May 25, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Actor Sir Ian McKellen celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 144th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Mike Myers and Sir Ian McKellen, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article on the front page titled “French Victory at Craonne Battle Seen by Eagle Man” at the height of World War I.

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The article was a cable message from a Brooklyn Eagle correspondent who witnessed the French win the Craonne Battle.

“I myself counted 11 French observation airplanes, circling like hawks over the battlefield. They were protected by a squadron of lighter fighting machines flying far into the enemy regions, watching like eagles for any German machines that might attempt rising,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer and songwriter JESSI COLTER, who was born in 1947; singer and songwriter TOM T. HALL, who was born in 1936; actress ANNE HECHE, who was born in 1969; actor JUSTIN HENRY, who was born in 1971; singer and actress LAURYN HILL, who was born in 1975; Hall of Fame basketball player and former coach K.C. JONES, who was born in 1932; actor JAMIE KENNEDY, who was born in 1970; U.S. SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, who was born in 1960; Tony Award-winning actor SIR IAN MCKELLEN, who was born in 1939; comedian and actor MIKE MYERS, who was born in 1963; Olympic gymnast ALY RAISMAN, who was born in 1994; actress CONNIE SELLECCA, who was born in 1955; actress OCTAVIA SPENCER, who was born in 1970; actor ETHAN SUPLEE, who was born in 1976; Tony Award-winning actress LESLIE UGGAMS, who was born in 1943; former football player BRIAN URLACHER, who was born in 1978; and actress KAREEN VALENTINE, who was born in 1947.

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“STAR WARS” WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1977. George Lucas’ space epic, starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, featured stunning special effects and was a smash hit worldwide. It went on to win six Academy Awards out of 10 nominations — plus an additional special Academy Award for sound effects. The film was part of a larger saga and in later years was retitled “Star Wars — Episode IV: A New Hope” as prequels were released.

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BILL “BOJANGLES” ROBINSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1878. Widely considered one of the greatest tap dancers, Robinson was one of the most successful African-American entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for a routine in which he tap-danced up and down a staircase. He appeared in several films with Shirley Temple and starred in “Stormy Weather” (1943). He died in New York in 1949.

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TODAY IS NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN’S DAY. It is a day to promote awareness of the problem of missing children, to offer a forum for change and information on safety for children in school and the community.

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RAYMOND CARVER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1938. The American poet and short story writer who chronicled the lives of America’s working poor. He died in 1988 at his home in Washington soon after finishing a book of poetry titled “A New Path to the Waterfall.”

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “A REPUBLIC, IF You Can Keep It: Masha Gessen Talks Autocracy with Timothy Snyder” tonight at 6:30 p.m. Government by the people is a powerful and beautiful system, but one that is not impervious to threats. Gessen, a Russian-American journalist and author of the forthcoming “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Retook Russia,” and Snyder, an esteemed academic and author of “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” will sit down to discuss the global rise of nationalism and America’s political future. 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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“I’m always learning something. Learning never ends.” — poet and writer Raymond Carver, who was born on this day in 1938


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