MILESTONES: August 29, birthdays for Lea Michele, Sen. John McCain, Noah Syndergaard

Brooklyn Today

August 29, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Lea Michele. Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress Rebecca De Mornay, who was born in 1962; Oscar Award-winning filmmaker William Friedkin, who was born in 1939; actor Richard Gere, who was born in 1949; actor Elliott Gould, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; TV host Robin Leach, who was born in 1941; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, who was born in 1955; soccer coach and former player Pablo Mastroeni, who was born in 1976; U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was born in 1936; actress Lea Michele, who was born in 1986; choreographer Mark Morris, who was born in 1956; baseball player Roy Oswalt, who was born in 1977; singer Liam Payne, who was born in 1993; former basketball player Will Perdue, who was born in 1965; actor Jay Ryan, who was born in 1981; Mets All-Star pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who was born in 1993; and former hockey player Pierre Turgeon, who was born in 1969.

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MICHAEL JACKSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1958. The self-styled “King of Pop” rose from humble beginnings to become a child star at Motown with his older brothers as the Jackson 5. He later launched a solo career and achieved enormous success as both a singer and dancer-choreographer. He changed the face of music videos with his inventive dance sequences, and his albums “Off the Wall,” “Bad” and “Thriller” are among the bestselling of all time. His musical legacy was almost overshadowed by his frequent plastic surgeries, eccentric behavior and legal difficulties, but he remained one of the most popular artists in the world and his influence on the musical landscape of the 1970s and ’80s was unsurpassed. Jackson died in California in 2009. Every year since Jackson died, Spike Lee has sponsored Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson, a free block party celebrating the artist.

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JOHN LOCKE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1632. The English philosopher was the founder of philosophical liberalism. His ideas influenced the American colonists and were enshrined in the Constitution. Locke died in England in 1704.

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INGRID BERGMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1915. One of cinema’s greatest actresses, Bergman was a three-time Academy Award winner for “Gaslight,” “Anastasia” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” Controversy over her personal life made her and her films unpopular to American audiences during an interval of several years between periods of awards and adulation. Bergman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and died in England on her 67th birthday in 1982.

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THE SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY WAS SUSPENDED ON THIS DAY IN 1991. The Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the USSR, suspended all activities of the Communist Party, seizing its property and bringing to an end the institution that ruled the Soviet Union for nearly 75 years. The action followed an unsuccessful coup from Aug. 19-21 that sought to overthrow the government of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev but instead prompted a sweeping wave of democratic change. Gorbachev quit as party leader Aug. 24.

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HURRICANE KATRINA STRUCK THE GULF COAST ON THIS DAY IN 2005. After hitting the southern Florida coast on Aug. 25, Hurricane Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico and grew into one of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. As a Category 3 storm, it struck Buras, LA, and surrounding areas, destroying communities up and down the Gulf Coast. Levees in New Orleans were breached, and within two days more than 80 percent of the city was underwater, stranding tens of thousands of people. The death toll in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida was more than 1,300, with more than 1,000 fatalities coming in Louisiana. Thousands remained missing at the end of 2005. The estimated one million people evacuated before and after the storm accounted for the largest movement of people in the U.S. since the Great Depression and the Civil War. And with $100 billion to $200 billion in damage over 90,000 square miles, Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.