MILESTONES: October 16, birthdays for John Mayer, Bryce Harper, Amelia Lily

October 16, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

John Mayer. Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Olympic swimmer MELISSA LOUISE BELOTE, who was born in 1956; actor BARRY CORBIN, who was born in 1940; former baseball player JUAN GONZALEZ, who was born in 1969; hockey player PAUL KARIYA, who was born in 1974; five-time Tony Award-winning actress ANGELA LANSBURY, who was born in 1925; actress KELLIE MARTIN, who was born in 1975; singer JOHN MAYER, who was born in 1977; Oscar Award-winning actor TIM ROBBINS, who was born in 1958; actress SUZANNE SOMERS, who was born in 1946; musician BOB WEIR, who was born in 1947; and writer and producer DAVID ZUCKER, who was born in 1947.

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OSCAR WILDE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1854. Wilde is best known for his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and his play “The Importance of Being Earnest.” He wrote in “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Wilde died in Paris on Nov. 30, 1900.

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NOAH WEBSTER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1758. The American teacher and journalist’s name became synonymous with the word dictionary after his compilations of the earliest American dictionaries of the English language. He died in 1843 in Connecticut.

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MARIE ANTOINETTE WAS EXECUTED ON THIS DAY IN 1793. French Queen Marie Antoinette, whose extravagance and “let them eat cake” attitude toward the starving French underclass made her a target of the French Revolution, was beheaded on this day.

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WILLIAM ORVILLE DOUGLAS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1898. The American jurist, world traveler, conservationist, outdoorsman and author served as a U.S. justice longer than any other (36 years). Douglas died in Washington, D.C. in 1980.

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AMERICA’S FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE OPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1868. ZCMI (Zion’s Co-Operative Mercantile Institution) opened in Salt Lake City and is still in operation, though under a new name and new ownership. It was founded under the direction of Brigham Young.

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

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“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” — Oscar Wilde, who was born on this day in 1854