MILESTONES: August 7, birthdays for Charlize Theron, David Duchovny, Mike Trout

Brooklyn Today

August 7, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Charlize Theron arrives at the LA Premiere of "Atomic Blonde" at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on July 24, 2017 in Los Angeles. Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include hockey player SIDNEY CROSBY, who was born in 1987; actor DAVID DUCHOVNY, who was born in 1960; actor JOHN GLOVER, who was born in 1944; humorist, producer, host and author GARRISON KEILLOR, who was born in 1942; actress DeLANE MATTHEWS, who was born in 1961; former FBI Director ROBERT MUELLER, who was born in 1944; actor HAROLD PARRINEAU, who was born in Brooklyn in 1963; marathon runner ALBERTO SALAZAR, who was born in 1957; actor MICHAEL SHANNON, who was born in 1974; Oscar Award-winning actress CHARLIZE THERON, who was born in 1975; and singer B.J. THOMAS, who was born in 1942.

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RALPH JOHNSON BUNCHE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1904. The American statesman and U.N. official was the first black person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Bunche died in 1971 in New York.

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THE PURPLE HEART WAS CREATED ON THIS DAY IN 1782. Gen. George Washington ordered the creation of a Badge of Military Merit, which consisted of a purple cloth heart with silver braided edge. Only three are known to have been awarded during the Revolutionary War. The award was reinstituted on the bicentennial of Washington’s birth in February 1932 and recognizes those wounded in action.

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MATA HARI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1876. Born Margaret Gertrude Zelle, her career as a dancer, courtesan and spy made her known around the world. Probably an ineffective double agent, she nevertheless fascinated royalty and high officials of several countries. She was arrested as a German spy in a Paris hotel in February 1917, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The greatest of her many roles was the final one, when she refused a blindfold and threw a kiss to the firing squad in Vincennes, France in 1917.

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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TIGHTROPE WALK. In 1974, French juggler and street performer Philippe Petit made an illegal tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, 1,350 feet above the plaza. He and his crew spent months planning the “coup” and smuggling materials into the buildings. Petit crossed eight times in 45 minutes and faced charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. The 2008 Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” chronicled this “artistic crime of the century.”

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ABEBE BIKILA WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1932. The Ethiopian marathoner and two-time Olympic gold medalist became the first black African Olympic champion at the 1960 games in Rome. Four years later, he broke his own world record to win gold in the marathon again. In 1969, a car accident left Bikila paralyzed from the waist down. He died of a brain hemorrhage four years later in Ethiopia. Tens of thousands attended Bikila’s funeral, and Ethiopia declared it a national day of mourning.

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

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“Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being where you belong, and second — and best — in comfortably going through everyday life, that is, having had a good night’s sleep and not being hurt by new shoes.” — author Theodor Fontane