MILESTONES: September 1, birthdays for Dr. Phil McGraw, Gloria Estefan, Zendaya Coleman

Brooklyn Today

September 1, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dr. Phil McGraw. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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On this day in 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page announced Germany’s invasion of Poland. Great Britain gave Germany an ultimatum, while President Franklin Delano Roosevelt vowed to keep the U.S. out of the war.

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On this day in 1945, exactly six years after the invasion of Poland, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on Japan’s imminent surrender.

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On this day in 1948, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle covered the Teamsters truck drivers’ strike, which threatened the delivery of food to NYC stores. At issue was a clause preventing layoff of drivers, a wage increase of 50 cents per hour and a welfare fund, which provided benefits to member employees and their families. This strike took place just over a year after the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, still standing today, restricts the power and activity of labor unions.

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On this day in 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the resistance revolting against Sen. Joseph McCarthy, whose witch hunts of Americans suspected to be Communists frightened Americans. Senate Chairman Arthur V. Watkins told McCarthy that he had no right to challenge the qualifications of any member of the Senate Censure Committee. That committee was in the process of censuring the senator.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress and singer ZENDAYA COLEMAN, who was born in 1996; author and attorney ALAN DERSHOWITZ, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; singer GLORIA ESTEFAN, who was born in 1957; singer BARRY GIBB, who was born in 1946; former basketball player TIM HARDAWAY, who was born in 1966; psychologist and television personality DR> PHIL McGRAW, who was born in 1950; conductor SEIJI OZAWA, who was born in 1935; actor DON STROUD, who was born in 1937; and actress and comedian LILY TOMLIN, who was born in 1939.

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EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY 1875. The U.S. novelist is best known for his book “Tarzan of the Apes.” Burroughs also served as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. He died in California in 1950.

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SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL SERVICE DOG MONTH. It honors guide dogs and military service dogs for the inspiring work they do in changing lives.

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PHILLIS WHEATLEY’S POETRY COLLECTION WAS PUBLISHED ON THIS DAY IN 1773. “Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” was the first published book of poetry composed by an African-American. During her first 12 years in America, she learned to read and write English and studied literature in English and Latin. Wheatley eventually gained her freedom but died in poverty in 1784 in Massachusetts.

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THE TITANIC WAS DISCOVERED ON THIS DAY IN 1985. Almost 75 years after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg, a joint American-French expedition force led by marine geologist Dr. Robert Ballard located the wreck. The luxury liner was resting on the ocean floor 12,500 feet down — about 350 miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. In July 1986, Ballard returned in an expedition aboard the Atlantis II to explore the ship with underwater robots. Two memorial bronze plaques were left on the deck.

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JACQUES CARTIER DIED ON THIS DAY IN 1557. The French navigator and explorer sailed from St. Malo, France in 1534 in search of a northwest passage to the Orient. Instead, he discovered the St. Lawrence River, explored Canada’s coastal regions and took possession of the country for France. Cartier was born in St. Malo at about 1491 (the exact date is unknown), and died there.

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“GENTLEMAN JIM” CORBETT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1866. The fighter boxed 61 rounds against Peter Jackson on May 21, 1891, to no decision, but the bout got him a match with heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan. The 1892 fight was the first governed by the Marquess of Queensberry rules and the first in which the fighters used gloves. Corbett decisioned Sullivan in 21 rounds using the jab, the punch he invented. Corbett died in Bayside, N.Y. in 1933.

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

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“You are here for but an instant, and you mustn’t take yourself too seriously.” — Edgar Rice Burroughs, who was born on this day in 1875