MILESTONES: May 24, birthdays for Alyson Hannigan, Patti LaBelle, Tommy Chong

Brooklyn Today

May 24, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actress Alyson Hannigan celebrates her birthday today. File photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision for Jockey Skimmies/AP Images

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 143rd day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Bob Dylan and Patti LaBelle, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Brooklyn Bridge Golden Jubilee Celebrated with Military Pomp.”

The article focused on a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Across the span, which became a public highway exactly 50 years ago today, Mayor John P. O’Brien and a citizens’ committee rode in automobiles, halted at the highest point and, while airplanes hummed in circles overhead and boat whistles on the East River shrieked, the mayor snipped a red-white-and-blue ribbon, much as a ribbon had been cut half a century ago,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Oscar Award-winning actor JIM BROADBENT, who was born in 1949; Emmy Award-winning actor GARY BURGHOFF, who was born in 1943; actor TOMMY CHONG, who was born in 1938; actor ERIC CLOSE, who was born in 1967; singer and songwriter BOB DYLAN, who was born in 1941; actress ALYSON HANNIGAN, who was born in 1974; singer PATTI LABELLE, who was born in 1944; basketball player TRACY MCGRADY, who was born in 1979; actor ALFRED MOLINA, who was born in 1953; director and puppeteer FRANK OZ, who was born in 1944; actress PRISCILLA BEAULIEU PRESLEY, who was born in Brooklyn in 1945; actress KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS, who was born in 1960; and author WILLIAM TREVOR, who was born in 1928.

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THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE OPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1883. After nearly 14 years in construction, the $16 million bridge opened over the East River. Designed by John A. Roebling, the steel suspension bridge has a span of 1,595 feet.

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THE U.S. LAUNCHED THE AURORA 7 MERCURY SPACE CAPSULE ON THIS DAY IN 1962. With this launch Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit Earth, circling it three times.

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SAMUEL I. NEWHOUSE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1895. The multimillionaire businessman became “America’s most profitable publisher.” He accumulated 31 newspapers, seven magazines, six TV stations, five radio stations and 20 cable television systems. Newhouse died in 1979.

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THE FIRST U.S. TELEGRAPH LINE OPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1844. The line was formally opened between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Samuel F.B. Morse sent the first officially telegraphed words — “What hath God wrought?” — from the Capitol building to Baltimore.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “Daniel Sharfstein in Conversation with Brent Staples” tonight at 6:30 p.m. As an abolitionist and Civil War hero, Gen. Oliver Otis Howard earned acclaim as a champion for racial equality. Despite this regard for civil rights, Howard waged a brutal military campaign against the Nez Perce tribe and their leader Chief Joseph, an outspoken opponent of forced relocation. This history is recounted in Sharfstein’s new book “Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War.” Sharfstein will discuss the story and its post-Civil War repercussions with New York Times editorial writer Brent Staples. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

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