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MILESTONES: December 18, birthdays for Christina Aguilera, Keith Richards, Katie Holmes

Brooklyn Today

December 18, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Christina Aguilera. Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 355th day of the year.

On this day in 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s front page reported that an IRT subway fire at Brooklyn Borough Hall sent smoke all the way into the tunnel leading into the Clark Street tunnel one stop away, and even into the elevator shaft leading up to the St. George Arcade at street level. The Eagle reported an 11-minute delay while the fire was extinguished in the fifth car of an eight-car train.

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On this day in 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that America’s voice would be heard in peace talks in the weeks after the end of World War I, with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson as a dominant figure. The four great power nations at the time — the U.S., Great Britain, France and Italy — wanted to hear Wilson’s views on indemnities, the freedom of the seas and the League of Nations. (Other editions that week covered Wilson’s first trip to Europe to discuss formation of the League of Nations.) … Meanwhile Brooklyn soldier Cpl. Benjamin Nasser, now free and back with his command unit in Paris, described his experience as a prisoner of war to Eagle correspondent Guy Hickok.

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On this day in 1932, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that (mostly Democratic) constituents of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt stampeded the congressional offices of their elected representatives to obtain 180,000 promised non-classified government jobs. Congress, under pressure from their constituents, as well as from their family and friends, were awaiting a report due in March from the Civil Service Commission, confirming that this number of jobs would be open. A shakeup was also expected among the personnel of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), a major source of patronage. Some of the jobs were not subject to Civil Service restrictions — or guarantees, depending on how one viewed it — and those employees could be hired and fired at will.

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On this day in 1948, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that a formal communist spy offered to “disclose vital information on Soviet espionage” if the U.S. guaranteed to protect him from retaliation from his ex-comrades. Also on that day’s front page: Even though Japan had attacked the United States just seven years earlier, the U.S. was “building up Japan as a bulwark in the Pacific Ocean” against the spread of communism, especially with recent developments in China … And a wedding in England between an Anglican and Roman Catholic stirred up controversy because the groom, Henry Fisher, was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the official Church of England. The bride, artist Felicity Sutton, was Roman Catholic. At issue was the statement they had to sign requiring them to raise any children as Roman Catholics.

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On this day in 1951, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the Communists gave the U.N. a list of 3,198 GI’s who were prisoners of war interred in North Korean camps or who had been murdered. Among those who were discovered to be alive was Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, who had disappeared in July 1950 while commanding the U.S. 24th Division during battle in South Korea. While in captivity, Dean was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman, and after his release in 1953 he was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. In his autobiography, the general claimed he was not deserving of his medal, stating in his autobiography, “There were heroes in Korea, but I was not one of them.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer CHRISTINA AGUILERA, who was born on Staten Island in 1980; actor JOSH DALLAS, who was born in 1978; actress RACHEL GRIFFITHS, who was born in 1968; actress KATIE HOLMES, who was born in 1978; actor RAY LIOTTA, who was born in 1954; movie critic and author LEONARD MALTIN, who was born in New York City in 1950; author MICHAEL MOORCOCK, who was born in 1939; former basketball player CHARLES OAKLEY, who was born in 1963; actor BRAD PITT, who was born in 1963; musician and singer KEITH RICHARDS, who was born in 1943; and Oscar Award-winning filmmaker STEVEN SPIELBERG, who was born in 1946.

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JOSEPH GRIMALDI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1778. Known as the “greatest clown in history” and the “king of pantomime,” Grimaldi began his stage career at age 2. He was an accomplished singer, dancer and acrobat. Born in England, he is best remembered as the original “Joey the Clown” and for the innovative humor he brought to the clown’s role in theater. Illness forced his early retirement in 1823, and he died in London in 1837.

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TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY. It recognizes the contributions that millions of migrant workers make to the global economy and seeks to draw attention to the precarious state of their rights.

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OSSIE DAVIS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1917.  Davis began his career as an actor with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem in the 1940s. He became involved with civil rights, counting among his friends W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, and worked to promote African-Americans in the entertainment industry throughout his life. Often sharing the stage or screen with wife Ruby Dee, he was featured in dozens of stage productions and feature films. Davis died in 2005 in Florida.

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TY COBB WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1886. Considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, Cobb holds the record for career batting average (.367). He played in more than 3,000 games over 24 years, mostly for the Detroit Tigers, and played his final two seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics. At the time of his retirement in 1928, he held many career records that have since been broken, including hits, runs scored and stolen bases, and in 1936 he was among the first five players inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A savvy businessman, he quickly realized the value of using his celebrity for marketing and amassed a fortune through investments in several companies, including Coca Cola and General Motors. Cobb died in Georgia in 1961.

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

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“I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.” — Keith Richards, who was born on this day in 1943

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