Feb. 18, birthdays for John Travolta, Dr. Dre, Jillian Michaels

Brooklyn Today

February 18, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

John Travolta celebrates his birthday today. AP photo

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ON THIS DAY in 1912, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Police Rescue Aged Hermit; Plot Alleged.” The article focused on an alleged conspiracy to secure property of a “hermit.”

“Samuel E. Haslett, aged and lone survivor of a family which half a century ago was one of the wealthiest and best-known in Brooklyn … was found ill and destitute in a neighboring house at 138 Remsen St. last night,” the Eagle reported. “He was reached only after those who sought him had secured authority from the police to break down the door.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include conductor Aldo Ceccato, who was born in 1934; “There’s Something About Mary” actor Matt Dillon, who was born in 1964; rapper and record producer Dr. Dre, who was born in 1965; film director and multiple Oscar Award-winner for “Amadeus” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” Milos Forman, who was born in 1932; Oscar Award-winning actor George Kennedy, who was born in 1927; personal trainer Jillian Michaels, who was born in 1974; Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, who was born in 1931; singer Juice Newton, who was born in 1952; artist and musician Yoko Ono, who was born in 1933; “The Breakfast Club” actress Molly Ringwald, who was born in 1968; “White Mischief” actress Greta Scacchi, who was born in 1960; “Cybill” actress Cybill Shepherd, who was born in 1950; “Pulp Fiction” actor John Travolta, who was born in 1955; former U.S. Sen. John William Warner (R-Va.), who was born in 1927; and television personality Vanna White, who was born in 1957.

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TODAY IS ASH Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. There are six Sundays remaining until Easter.

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PLUTO WAS DISCOVERED by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh on this day in 1930. The planet was given the name of the Roman god of the underworld and was considered the ninth planet of the solar system until 2006, when astronomers reclassified it as a dwarf planet.

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