Good morning. Today is the 58th day of the year. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Feb. 27, 1901, reported on a strike by telephone linemen who belonged to  the still-existing International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The men wanted shorter hours, but the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company (a forerunner of today’s Verizon) countered that they were only asked to work long hours during the summer, when the demand was greater. At the time, the number of Americans who had telephones was growing rapidly – of the roughly 76 Americans counted by the 1900 census, 3 million were “wired,” mainly in the big cities. “Hello, My Baby,” thought to be the first telephone song, came out in 1899.

Well-known people who were born today include broadcast journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault, singer Josh Groban, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, actress Joanne Woodward (“The Three Faces of Eve,” “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge”), actor Adam Baldwin and former basketball player James Worthy.