MILESTONES: November 29, birthdays for Russell Wilson, Howie Mandel, Don Cheadle

Brooklyn Today

November 29, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Russell Wilson. AP Photo/Don Feria

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On this day in 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the U.S. offered aid to Finland following skirmishes with the neighboring the Soviet Union. The Soviets, accusing Finland of aggression and even of espionage, then had voided their peace pact with Finland and fortified their naval fleets in the Gulf of Finland. U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull offered to help settle the dispute. Meanwhile, the British Admiralty Fleet pursued and shot down German aircraft in the North Sea near Norway’s western coast.

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On this day in 1943, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that British Eighth Army forces were braving Germany’s “liquid fire” as they “smashed into” the Adriatic border of what was defined as “the German Winter line.” The Allies were ramping up air, sea and land action. Meanwhile, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin were set to meet in Egypt (reportedly either Alexandria or Cairo) to confer on bringing about the complete, unconditional surrender of Germany. The Nazis, of course, viewed this parley as a “confab.” And U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull warned that talks of peace were premature and could lead to a dangerous overconfidence on the Allies’ part.

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On this day in 1950, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that as the potential of a third world war was brewing in Korea, with Chinese Communist forces cutting off the 1st Marine division and other regiments, Secretary of State Dean Acheson was preparing to address the nation. The radio networks known as ABC, CBS and NBC were set to broadcast Acheson’s foreign policy talk on the worsening Communist crisis. His half-hour talk was set to include 10 minutes on Korea, 15 minutes on strategy and 5 minutes on national unity. Foreign secretary Ernest Bevin warned that the Chinese intervention was part of a wider Chinese-Soviet conspiracy planning to strike Asia and Europe simultaneously.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor Lucas Black, who was born in 1982; actor Don Cheadle, who was born in 1964; former president of France Jacques Rene Chirac, who was born in 1932; filmmaker Joel Coen, who was born in 1954; actress Kim Delaney, who was born in 1961; former White House chief of staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was born in 1959; actress Anna Faris, who was born in 1976; soccer coach and former player Ryan Giggs, who was born in 1973; Hall of Fame soccer player Kasey Keller, who was born in 1969; actress Diane Ladd, who was born in 1932; comedian and TV personality Howie Mandel, who was born in 1955; Grammy award-winning musician and composer Chuck Mangione, who was born in 1940; musician and bandleader John Mayall, who was born in 1933; actor Andrew McCarthy, who was born in 1962; former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, who was born in 1957; former baseball player Mariano Rivera, who was born in 1969; sportscaster Vin Scully, who was born in 1927; and football player Russell Wilson, who was born in 1988.

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SHIRLEY CHISHOLM WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1924. The Brooklyn-born educator, author and politician was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. A liberal Democrat, she was known for her strong opinions and outspoken nature as she represented the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in City Congress from 1974 to 1982. She died in Florida in 2005.

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TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. Proclaimed by the U.N. General Assembly in 1977, the observance is organized by secretary-general in consultation with Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Recommendations include a plan for return of the Palestinians to their homes and the establishment of an “independent Palestinian entity.”

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NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1876. She became the first female governor in the U.S. when she was chosen to serve out the last month and two days of her husband’s term as governor of Wyoming after he died in office. She was elected in her own right in the 1924 election but lost the 1927 race. Ross was appointed vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1926 and named director of the U.S. Mint by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. She died in Washington, D.C. in 1977.

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

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“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” — C. S. Lewis, who was born on this day in 1898