Brooklyn Today for November 1
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Good morning. Today is the 305th day of the year. On this day in 1899, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle carried an article saying that a new company, Continental Telephone and Telegraph, had been formed to compete with the powerful Bell Telephone Company. Telephone service was then in its infancy but was growing rapidly across the country. Although the company was located in New Jersey, a Brooklyn businessman, Darwin James, was one of the founders. The new company apparently failed, since Bell continued to be a near-monopoly throughout the U.S. until the 1970s.
Well-known people who were born today include actress Jenny McCarthy, former baseball pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, former golfer Gary Player and singer Lyle Lovett.