MILESTONES: August 17, birthdays for Donnie Walhberg, Lil Pump, Paige

August 17, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Donnie Wahlberg. AP photo

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer BELINDA CARLISLE, who was born on this day in 1958; Oscar Award-winning actor ROBERT DE NIRO, who was born in 1943; producer and writer JULIAN FELLOWES, who was born in 1949; author JONATHAN FRANZEN, who was born in 1959; former soccer player THIERRY HENRY, who was born in 1977; actor ROBERT JOY, who was born in 1951; Oscar Award-winning actor SEAN PENN, who was born in 1960; former auto racer NELSON PIQUET, who was born in 1952; actor MARK SALLING, who was born in 1982; Hall of Fame tennis player GUILLERMO VILAS, who was born in 1952; and actor and singer DONNIE WAHLBERG, who was born in 1969.

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DAVY CROCKETT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1786. The American frontiersman, bear hunter, soldier and politician was born in Greene County, Tennessee. After losing a reelection bid to represent Tennessee in Congress, Crockett moved to the colony of Texas and joined the settlers’ effort to gain independence from Mexico. He died during the final heroic defense of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, in San Antonio. The larger-than-life figure once boasted: “I can run faster, walk longer, leap higher, speak better and tell more and bigger lies.”

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THE FIRST AMERICAN STEAMBOAT TRIP BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1807. Robert Fulton began the trip between Albany and New York, N.Y. on a boat later called the Clermont. After years of promoting submarine warfare, Fulton engaged in a partnership with Robert R. Livingston, the U.S. minister to France, allowing Fulton to design and construct a steamboat. The first Albany–to–New York trip took 32 hours to travel the 150-mile course. Although his efforts were labeled “Fulton’s Folly” by his detractors, his success allowed the partnership to begin commercial service the next year.

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MARCUS GARVEY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1887. Born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, through which he sought to organize Jamaicans (and after 1916, Americans) of African descent around principles of racial pride, racial separatism and economic empowerment through black business ownership. He died in 1940 in England.

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MAE WEST WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN ON THIS DAY IN 1893. The stage and screen siren, famous for her naughty wisecracks, was born Mary Jane West in Brooklyn. She acted in vaudeville from age 5 and made her Hollywood debut in 1932. She was unique among stars in that she wrote her own plays and film scripts — mostly concerning the joys of men and sex. Her Broadway play “Sex” resulted in her conviction for public obscenity in 1927, and she served time for eight days. Master of the risqué bon mot, West said in “I’m No Angel” (1933), “When I’m good, I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” She died in LA in 1980.

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

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“There’s nothing more ironic or contradictory than life itself.” — Robert De Niro, who was born on this day in 1943