Brooklyn Today: Tuesday, March 27, 2012

March 27, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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Good morning. Today is the 87th day of the year. On this day in 1868, schoolteacher and author Patty Smith Hill was born in Anchorage, Ky. She is best known for writing the song “Happy Birthday to You.” The song was first titled “Good Morning to You,” and was written for students to sing to their teachers as a greeting. A verse beginning “Happy birthday to you” was added in the early 1920s. This version of the song was popularized in the Broadway musical As Thousands Cheer in 1933, and it soon became the most popular birthday song in the world.

Well-known people who were born today include singer Mariah Carey, singer-musician Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, and director Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown).

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Today at 7 p.m. at the powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St., Cheryl Strayed will read from her new book, Wild. At the age of 22, after her mother died and her marriage broke up, she decided to hike from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington state. She faced rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, as well as the beauty of the wilderness.

Today at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College in Clinton Hill, interfaith relations expert Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor will present a lecture on “Catholic-Jewish Relations 46 Years From Vatican II.” Granatoor is the vice president of philanthropy of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.