History Brooklyn Boro

MILESTONES: July 8, birthdays for Kevin Bacon, Toby Keith, John D. Rockefeller

Brooklyn Today

July 8, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Actor Kevin Bacon celebrates his birthday today. AP photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
Actor Kevin Bacon celebrates his birthday today. AP photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 189th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Kevin Bacon and Toby Keith, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “$3,000,000 Gas Explosion Rocks Newark Area.”

The article focused on 125 tanks of liquid gas that blew up in a storage yard in Newark, New Jersey.

“The explosions at the Warren Petroleum Company on Doremus Avenue, touched off in an unexplained manner by burning propane gas, blew off the roofs of three buildings of the International Printing Ink Company about 400 yards from the core of the blast. Buildings 20 miles away were shaken as orange balls of fire shot thousands of feet into the air,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor KEVIN BACON, who was born in 1958; actress SOPHIA BUSH, who was born in 1982; children’s singer and songwriter RAFFI CAVOUKIAN, who was born in 1948; Tony Award-winning actor BILLY CRUDUP, who was born in 1968; actress KIM DARBY, who was born in 1948; former ballerina, choreographer and teacher CYNTHIA GREGORY, who was born in 1946; singer and songwriter Beck Hansen, who was born in 1970; Oscar Award-winning actress ANJELICA HUSTON, who was born in 1951; country singer TOBY KEITH, who was born in 1961; singer STEVE LAWRENCE, who was born in 1935; actor JEFFREY TAMBOR, who was born in 1944; actor MILO VENTIMIGLIA, who was born in 1977; former Planned Parenthood Executive Director ALYCE FAYE WATTLETON, who was born in 1943; and actor MICHAEL WEATHERLY, who was born in 1968.

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LOUIS JORDAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1908. The bandleader-vocalist-saxophonist performed from the mid-1920s through the 1950s. A pioneer in American jazz, he was one of the most successful and influential African-American musicians of his era. Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed Jordan number 59 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” He died in 1975 in California.

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JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1839. The oil magnate, industrialist and philanthropist brought his love of discipline and frugality to bear on his business dealings, acquiring his first oil refinery in 1863. By 1870, Rockefeller had created Standard Oil, the world’s largest refining operations. He perfected the company’s vertical integration, quietly buying out competitors and buying up pipelines, train cars, forests (fuel and barrels) and warehouses. Waste by-products like kerosene and gasoline become profitable side businesses. Standard Oil was declared a monopoly in 1911 and broken into 33 subsidiaries, ironically making Rockefeller richer. At his death, his fortune was $1.4 billion. From the 1880s onward he made philanthropy his business. His gifts were foundational to many institutions, including the University of Chicago, Spelman College and Dension University. The Rockefeller Foundation, originally funded to eradicate hookworm, remains a major humanitarian philanthropy. At his death in 1937 in Florida, Rockefeller had given away more than $550 million.

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BILLY ECKSTINE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1914. The bandleader and bass-baritone singer formed his own band in 1944 after performing with the Earl Hines band for almost 20 years. At one time or another, the band’s ranks included Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Art Blakey and vocalist Sarah Vaughan — some of the greatest bebop musicians of all time. Among Eckstine’s hits were “Fools Rush In,” “Everything I Have Is Yours,” “My Foolish Heart,” “Blue Moon” and “Body and Soul.” Eckstine died  in 1993 in Pennsylvania.

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

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“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller, who was born on this day in 1839


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