Brooklyn Boro

MILESTONES: August 14, birthdays for Steve Martin, Magic Johnson, Tim Tebow

Brooklyn Today

August 14, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Steve Martin. Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP.
Share this:

Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 226th day of the year.

 

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include journalist, author and TV host Russell Baker, who was born in 1925; actress Catherine Bell, who was born in 1968; actress Halle Berry, who was born in 1966; singer and songwriter David Crosby, who was born in 1941; actor Antonio Fargas, who was born in 1946; singer and composer Buddy Greco, who was born in 1926; Oscar Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden, who was born in 1959; Olympic gymnast Terin Humphrey, who was born in 1986; Hall of Fame basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr., who was born in 1959; actress Mila Kunis, who was born in 1983; economist Arthur Betz Laffer, who was born in 1940; cartoonist Gary Larson, who was born in 1950; photographer, makeup artist and TV personality Jay Manuel, who was born in 1972; comedian and actor Steve Martin, who was born in 1945; TV personality Spencer Pratt, who was born in 1983; actress Susan Saint James, who was born in 1946; tennis player Robin Soderling, who was born in 1984; author Danielle Steel, who was born in 1947; football player Tim Tebow, who was born in 1987; and auto racer Rusty Wallace, who was born in 1956.

Subscribe to our newsletters

****

ERNEST LAWRENCE THAYER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1863. The man who wrote the famous comic baseball ballad “Casey at the Bat” wrote a series of comic poems for the San Francisco Examiner, of which “Casey at the Bat” was the last. It was published in 1888, and Thayer received $5 in payment for it. Thayer, who regarded the poem’s fame as a nuisance and whose other writings are largely forgotten, died in California in 1940.

****

THE ATLANTIC CHARTER WAS SIGNED ON THIS DAY IN 1941. The eight-point agreement was signed by then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and then-British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill. The charter grew out of a three-day conference aboard ship in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Newfoundland coast, and stated policies and hopes for the future agreed to by the two nations.

****

JOAN BAEZ PERFORMED AT THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT ON THIS DAY IN 1967. The folk singer performed a free concert on the grounds of the monument a day after she’d been denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

****

THE COLOGNE CATHEDRAL WAS COMPLETED ON THIS DAY IN 1880. The largest Gothic church in northern Europe was completed 632 years after rebuilding began in 1248. In fact, there had been a church on its site since 873, but a fire in 1248 made rebuilding necessary. The cathedral was again damaged (by bombing) during World War II.

****

THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT WAS SIGNED ON THIS DAY IN 1935.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, which contained provisions for the establishment of a Social Security Board to administer federal old-age and survivors’ insurance in the U.S. By signing the bill into law, Roosevelt fulfilled a 1932 campaign promise.

****

THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “HOLLYWOOD Does History … Poorly, Part 3: ‘Forrest Gump.’” tonight at 6.30 p.m. The final installment of the film series looks at the life of one of American history’s most iconic figures: Forrest Gump. While a work of fiction, Gump’s bizarre “right place, right time” journey through time would make him our most important historical lynchpin — if it were true, of course. Slate’s Kristen Meinzer will introduce the film. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

****

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

****

“A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he’s crossing a one-way street.” — author Laurence J. Peter


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment