History Brooklyn Boro

February 16, birthdays for LeVar Burton, Lupe Fiasco, Carl Icahn

Brooklyn Today

February 16, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actor LeVar Burton celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 45th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Ice T and Jerome Bettis, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Capt. Fried and His Crew of Sailor Heroes Receive Formal Welcome to City.”

The article focused on a group of sailors who were welcomed to New York City as heroes.

“The city of New York today spoke its official word of approval, chanted its authoritative pean of praise to Capt. George Fried and his heroic band from the liner President Roosevelt for the ‘incredible bravery’ and the ‘superb seamanship’ they displayed in the rescue of some 25 doomed men of the freighter Antinoe sinking on the angry seas,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Hall of Fame football player Jerome Bettis, who was born in 1972; actor LeVar Burton, who was born in 1957; actor Christopher Eccleston, who was born in 1964; rapper and music executive Lupe Fiasco, who was born in 1982; author Richard Ford, who was born in 1944; business magnate and philanthropist Carl Icahn, who was born in 1936; rapper and actor Ice T, who was born in 1959; singer and songwriter James Ingram, who was born in 1956; actor William Katt, who was born in 1951; actor Eric Laden, who was born in 1978; sportscaster and Hall of Fame tennis player John Patrick McEnroe Jr., who was born in 1959; and actor Barry Primus, who was born in 1938.

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ROBERT JOSEPH FLAHERTY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1884. The American filmmaker, explorer and author is often called the “father of the documentary film.” His films include “Nanook of the North,” “Moana of the South Seas” and “Man of Aran.” Flaherty died in Vermont in 1951.

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EDGAR BERGEN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1903. The actor, radio entertainer and ventriloquist was the voice of Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd and Effie Klinker. He is also the father of Emmy Award–winning actress Candice Bergen. Bergen died in Nevada in 1978.

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GEORGE KENNAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1904. The U.S. diplomat coined the phrase “containment policy.” He served as a diplomat during WWII and was briefly arrested by the Nazis. After the war, Kennan wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine that had a significant influence on America’s Cold War policy. The article, titled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” and submitted under the pseudonym “Mr. X,” called upon the U.S. and its allies to prevent the territorial spread of communism, either by shows of military force or by economic and technological intervention in at-risk nations. Both the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine were heavily influenced by the ideas expressed in the article. Kennan later had a controversial turn as ambassador to the Soviet Union. He died in New Jersey in 2005.

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HENRY WILSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1812. The 18th vice president of the U.S. served from 1873-1875. Wilson died in Washington, D.C. in 1875.

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“SLIDING BILLY” HAMILTON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1866. With Ed Delahanty and Sam Thompson, Hamilton formed one of baseball’s greatest outfields for the Philadephia Phillies throughout the 1890s. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1961 and died in Massachusetts in 1940.

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

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“Heroism is endurance for one moment more.” — U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan, who was born on this day in 1904