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MILESTONES: December 8, birthdays for Nicki Minaj, Dwight Howard, Ann Coulter

Brooklyn Today

December 8, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Nicki Minaj. Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 345th day of the year.

On this day in 1951, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page covered the opening of two new playgrounds in Brooklyn Heights’ “Columbia Heights section.” Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore praised Parks Commissioner Robert Moses as “the modern Leonardo DaVinci.” The clergy of Plymouth Church, Assumption Roman Catholic Church and Congregation Mount Sinai were on hand to offer invocations and blessings. One of the playgrounds was described in detail. Based on the information, today’s reader could identify it as the former Squibb Park (which was demolished several years ago in the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Park.) The other playground may have been the one now named Harry Chapin Park (after a beloved neighborhood singer and composer). There is a third playground at the other end of Columbia Heights and its intersection with Pierrepont Street.

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On this day in 1922, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that President Warren G. Harding, in a speech to Congress, condemned what he said was “contempt of the law” regarding the enforcement of Prohibition. The usually calm Harding was impassioned as he appealed to the nation’s moral conscience, saying “the day is unlikely to come when Prohibition will be repealed.” That day arrived just less than 11 years later, on Dec. 5, 1933, in the first year of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. Congress — with Utah as the deciding state — ratified the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th “Prohibition” Amendment.

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On this day in 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that former President Herbert Hoover issued a plea to Americans to render humanitarian aid to Finland, which he described as “not a rich country” that is “making a heroic defense” of their country. Adjacent to this story was a report of Soviet skirmishes within 20 miles of the Finnish border. The Eagle, which in that edition devoted three top stories to the need for Finnish relief aid, was helping collect donations. Brooklyn Borough President Raymond Ingersoll was counted as the first to donate.

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On this day in 1943, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that Turkey had militarized the entire Dardanelles (strait) as part of a strategy to join the Allied camp (and to cut Bulgaria off from the Axis). The Dardanelles (whose name derives from several sources: originally named for two castles on either side of the strait, a city on the strait, and the mythical son of Zeus and Electra) is a vital waterway linking Mediterranean lands to the Black Sea and forms part of the continental boundary between Europe — including the European section of Turkey — and Asia.

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On this day in 1941, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was filled with reportage on the Pearl Harbor attack and the United States’ declaration of war against Germany. The Senate unanimously adopted the war resolution. The House of Representatives, voting immediately afterwards, adopted the resolution 388-1. The one dissenting vote was cast by Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-Montana), the first woman ever elected to Congress, and an avowed pacifist. Other front-page stories reported that Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Haiti, in solidarity with the U.S., also declared war on Japan. The government wasted no time in rounding up Japanese persons across the U.S. Here in New York, Japanese “aliens” were interned at Ellis Island.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress Kim Basinger, who was born in 1953; former hockey player Red Berenson, who was born in 1941; political commentator and author Ann Coulter, who was born in 1961; flutist James Galway, who was born in 1939; actress Teri Hatcher, who was born in 1964; basketball player Dwight Howard, who was born in 1985; singer and rapper Nicki Minaj, who was born in 1984; actor Dominic Monaghan, who was born in 1976; former baseball player Mike Mussina, who was born in 1968; singer and songwriter Sinead O’Connor, who was born in 1966; actor Ian Somerhalder, who was born in 1978; and actress Mary Woronov, who was born in 1946.

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JOHN LENNON WAS SHOT ON THIS DAY IN 1980. Deranged gunman Mark David Chapman shot and killed former Beatle John Lennon outside his apartment building in New York City as he returned from a recording session. His death shocked the world. His widow, Yoko Ono, asked for 10 minutes of silence at 2 p.m. on the following Sunday and many U.S. and international radio stations observed it.

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JIM MORRISON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1943. The songwriter, poet and lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison is considered to be one of the fathers of contemporary rock. Morrison, known as “the Lizard King,” brought avant-garde theatrics to his musical performances and mystical influences to his songs. He died in France in 1971.

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NAFTA WAS SIGNED ON THIS DAY IN 1993. President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which cut tariffs and eliminated other trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994.

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SAMMY DAVIS JR. WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1925. The New York-born performer was the son of vaudevillians and first appeared onstage when he was 4 years old. He made his first film appearance in 1931. He joined the Will Mastin Trio, a song-and-dance team popular on the nightclub circuit; as Davis matured, his singing, dancing and impersonations became the center of the act. He began performing on his own in the 1950s, headlining club engagements, appearing on TV variety shows and making numerous records. His Broadway debut came in 1956 in the hit musical “Mr. Wonderful,” and in the late 1950s and ‘60s he starred in a number of films, including a series with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. He died in Los Angeles in 1990.

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THE SOVIET UNION DISSOLVED ON THIS DAY IN 1991. The Union of Soviet Social Republics (USSR) ceased to exist as the republics of Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Minsk, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining republics, with the exception of Georgia, joined in the new commonwealth as it began its slow and arduous process of removing the yoke of communism and dealing with strong separatist and nationalistic movements within the various republics.

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

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“You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art.” — Nicki Minaj, who was born on this day in 1982

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