Brooklyn Today for Feb. 16

February 15, 2013 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Good morning. Today is the 47th day of the year. On this day in 1898, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the explosion in Cuba that sank the U.S. battleship Maine. The battleship was in Cuba to protect U.S. interests amid the background of a Cuban revolt against Spanish rule. Within days, newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, without any actual proof, started to blame Spain for the explosion. The saying, “Remember the Maine, To Hell With Spain!” became widespread, and the U.S. declared war on Spain later that year.

Well-known people who were born today include rapper-actor Ice T (“Law & Order: SVU”), singer-songwriter James Ingram (“If Loving You Is Wrong”), Hall of Fame tennis player John McEnroe, actor LeVar Burton (“Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) and actor Barry Primus (“Cagney and Lacey”)

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