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MILESTONES: July 17, David Hasselhoff, Luke Bryan, Jeremih

Brooklyn Today

July 17, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actor David Hasselhoff celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 198th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include David Hasselhoff and Luke Bryan, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published a front-page article titled “Destroyer Plunkett Commissioned Here.”

The article focused on a Brooklyn Navy Yard ceremony held in honor of a new destroyer ship.

“The ship was brought to Brooklyn yesterday from the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company yards at Kearny, N.J., where it was built and launched on March 9, last. The crew of 170 men and five officers lined the aft deck of the Plunkett as orders commissioning the ship were read by Capt. Laurance North McNair, new captain of the yard,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress LUCIE ARNAZ, who was born in 1951; country singer LUKE BRYAN, who was born in 1976; singer and actress DIAHANN CARROLL, who was born in 1935; actor JASON CLARKE, who was born in 1968; actor DAVID HASSELHOFF, who was born in 1952; pop singer JEREMIH, who was born in 1987; actor DONALD SUTHERLAND, who was born in 1935; opera singer DAWN UPSHAW, who was born in 1960; and actor ALEX WINTER, who was born in 1965.

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ERLE STANLEY GARDNER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1889. The American detective fiction author is best remembered for his smash-hit series featuring lawyer-detective Perry Mason, who debuted in “The Case of the Velvet Claws” in 1933. Mason is probably the most famous lawyer in popular culture: he was featured in 82 novels as well as on TV and film. At the height of their popularity, Mason novels sold 20,000 copies a day. Gardner died in California in 1970.

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DISNEYLAND OPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1955. The country’s first theme park debuted in Anaheim, California.

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JOHN JACOB ASTOR WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1763. As the founder of what is considered the first American business monopoly — the American Fur Company — Astor broke into the fur trade in 1786 by starting a fur-goods store in New York City. He made considerable transactions in Canada and the Great Lakes region as well as China, through special permission from the British East India Company. At the time of his death in 1848 in New York, he was the wealthiest person in the United States.

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THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1936. Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of army troops based in North Africa against the elected government of the Spanish Republic. Spain was quickly divided into a Nationalist and a Republican zone, with Franco’s nationalists drawing support from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. In 1939, the nationalists won a complete victory when they entered Madrid. Franco ruled as dictator in Spain until his death in 1975.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “SCREENING AND Discussion: ‘Trapped’” tonight at 6:30. The award-winning documentary will follow the clinic workers and lawyer who were on the front lines of the battle to fight state TRAP (Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) laws in the landmark 2016 U.S. Supreme Court case. Producer Marilyn Ness will join the discussion. 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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“Could I begin life again, knowing what I now know, and had money to invest, I would buy every foot of land on the Island of Manhattan.” — John Jacob Astor, who was born on this day in 1763