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MILESTONES: December 22, birthdays for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Jordin Sparks, Meghan Trainor

Brooklyn Today

December 22, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 358th day of the year.

On this day in 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s speech at the Paris-Sorbonne University, where he was presented with an honorary doctorate. Wilson, who was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Europe, had been a professor at and president of Princeton University before entering politics. He already held an earned Ph.D. and other degrees. At the Sorbonne, stating his belief that the mission of education was to awaken the spirit, Wilson said that the recently ended war was “only between nations, but has also been a war between systems of culture.” One culture is the aggressor, “using science without conscience.” The other culture is freedom-seeking.

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On this day in 1945, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported funeral plans for General George S. Patton Jr., who had died the night of Dec. 21 from complications of an infection and paralysis incurred in an automobile accident earlier that month. The four-star general helped lead the Allied forces to victory in the European theater of World War II, particularly the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. Patton’s widow, Beatrice, said he requested to be buried in Luxembourg, alongside his fallen soldiers of the victorious U.S. 3rd Army, so that he would be with them even in death.

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On Dec. 24, 1923, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on plans to eliminate the “el” — that is, the elevated train system that ran along Fulton Street, from Fulton Ferry Landing. In its heyday, the Fulton Street Elevated expanded to East New York, and some of the elevated stations are still in use today on the A, C and L trains. The city’s Transit Commission was prepared to start dismantling the el as soon as the B.M.T. subway plan was approved. The full cost, by the time the Fulton Street Elevated had been eliminated in 1940, was more than $2 million.

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On Dec. 24, 1950, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that on Christmas Eve, Korean and Chinese communist forces were waging a major invasion into Seoul, South Korea. Meanwhile, the U.S. 3rd Division had been waiting for such an invasion to happen for several days. South Korean refugees were streaming out of a snow-covered Seoul. The rest of the world was listening to Pope Pius XII’s dire warning as part of his Christmas message. The Roman Catholic pontiff said that the free nations of the world must unite to prevent a third world war — an atomic war — which would “leave the earth as void and empty as the desert.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Hall of Fame baseball player STEVE CARLTON, who was born in 1944; U.S. Sen. TED CRUZ, who was born on this day in 1970; actor HECTOR ELIZONDO, who was born in 1936; actor RALPH FIENNES, who was born in 1962; former baseball player STEVE GARVEY, who was born in 1948; former U.S. Secretary of Energy, nuclear physicist and professor ERNEST MONIZ, who was born in 1944; children’s book illustrator JERRY PINKNEY, who was born in 1939; journalist and anchor DIANE SAWYER, who was born in 1945; singer JORDIN SPARKS, who was born in 1989; golfer JAN STEPHENSON, who was born in 1951; and singer MEGHAN TRAINOR, who was born in 1993.

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EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1869. The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner was best known for his short dramatic poems, including “Richard Cory” and “Miniver Cheevy.” He died in California in 1935.

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GIACOMO PUCCINI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1858. Puccini composed such operas as “La Boheme,” “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly.” He died in Belgium in 1924.

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THE FIRST GORILLA TO BE BORN IN CAPTIVITY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1956. Colo was born at the Columbus, Ohio zoo, weighing in at 3 1/4 pounds.

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CLAUDIA “LADY BIRD” JOHNSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1912. The former first lady and wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson ran his congressional office during his navy stint in WWII and was at his side as his career ran its course from Texas congressman to 36th president of the U.S. Her personal causes included highway beautification, and she founded the National Wildflower Research Center in Austin in 1995, which was later renamed for her. She died at Austin in 2007.

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JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1696. The English general, author and colonizer of Georgia also founded the city of Savannah. Oglethorpe died in England in 1785.

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JEAN-BAPTISTE RACINE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1639. The French dramatist and playwright worked during the reign of Louis XIV. He was a contemporary of Molière and ultimately a rival of Corneille. His works include ‘Andromaque,’ ‘Iphegénie’ and ‘Phèdre.’ He brought to the classical tradition a sublimely refined style, and his plays introduced a new focus — the passions overruling tragic figures — rather than the presentation of a complicated chain of events. He died in Paris in 1699.

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THE PERIOD OF CAPRICORN BEGINS TODAY. In the astronomical and astrological zodiac that divides the sun’s apparent orbit into 12 segments, the period from Dec. 22-Jan. 19 is traditionally identified as the sun sign of Capricorn, the goat. The ruling planet is Saturn.

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

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“The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.” — former first lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, who was born on this day in 1912

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