Good morning. Today is the 280th day of the year. On this day in 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was born when Dow Jones began reporting an average of the prices of 12 industrial stocks. In 1928 the company expanded the number of stocks to 30, where it remains today.

Well-known people who were born today include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Marine Corps Lt. Oliver North (ret.), cellist Yo-Yo Ma, singer Toni Braxton and Brooklyn-born comedienne Joy Behar.

VELMANETTE MONTGOMERY To Showcase Programs at Brooklyn School.

In celebration of New York Harvest for New York Kids, state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn) will showcase the culinary arts and gardening programs at the Urban Assembly High School for Music and Art at an event at the school today.

Urban farmers from Montgomery’s district in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Red Hook will also take part in the program.

During New York Harvest for New York Kids Week, schools citywide will sponsor educational activities that emphasize nutritious food choices.

The Urban Assembly school is located at 49 Flatbush Ave. Extension. Programs will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

They will include a roundtable discussion; a tour of a local community garden; and a meal served by student chefs featuring items harvested from the community garden.

PRISON SHIP MARTYRS MONUMENT Tour.

This Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Urban Park Rangers will lead a tour of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument.

Meet at the Fort Greene Visitors Center — enter the park at Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park. With the Urban Park Rangers, you’ll get a close-up view of the monument, which commemorates the death of more than 10,000 patriots of the American Revolution.

These captured American soldiers were imprisoned by the British aboard rotting, filthy prison ships anchored in New York Harbor. Many of them died of disease and starvation because they refused to swear allegiance to the king.

The tour will be taking a peek into the base of the monument, but access to the top of the tower is not permitted at this time.

Questions? Comments? Sound off to the Editor

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009 All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law. Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net