History Brooklyn Boro

December 21, birthdays for Samuel L. Jackson, Jane Fonda, Kiefer Sutherland

Brooklyn Today

December 21, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actor Samuel L. Jackson celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 356th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Evert, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Bay Ridge Homes Lack Water After Break in Main.”

The article focused on a water main break that left residents without running water.

“A six-man crew dug through the snow covering and road surface of Fourth Avenue last night and this morning to fix the main. Although the pipe runs over the Fourth Avenue BMT subway line, there was no flooding of the subway and trains operated normally,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor ANDY DICK who was born in 1965; former television talk show host PHIL DONAHUE, who was born on this day in 1935; sportscaster and Hall of Fame tennis player CHRIS EVERT, who was born on this day in 1954; Oscar Award-winning actress JANE FONDA, who was born on this day in 1937; actor SAMUEL L. JACKSON, who was born in 1948; actress JANE KACZMAREK, who was born in 1955; comedian and actor RAY ROMANO, who was born in 1957; actor KIEFER SUTHERLAND, who was born in 1966; conductor, pianist and organist MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS, who was born in 1944; former baseball player ANDY VAN SLYKE, who was born in 1960; golfer KARRIE WEBB, who was born in 1974; and actor STEVEN YEUN, who was born in 1983.

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FRANK ZAPPA WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1940. The rock musician and composer was noted for his satire and for being a leading advocate against censorship of contemporary music. He formed the group Mothers of Invention. He died in Maryland in 1993.

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PILGRIMS ABOARD THE MAYFLOWER REACHED PLYMOUTH ON THIS DAY in 1620, according to Gov. William Bradford’s “History of Plymouth Plantation.” Plymouth Rock, the legendary place of landing since it first was “identified” in 1769, nearly 150 years after the landing, has been a historic shrine since. The landing anniversary is observed in much of New England as Forefathers’ Day.

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APOLLO 8 WAS LAUNCHED ON THIS DAY IN 1968. The first moon voyage launched was manned by Colonel Frank Borman, Capt. James A. Lovell Jr. and Major William A. Anders. The craft orbited the moon on Dec 24 and returned to Earth Dec 27. It marked the first time men orbited the moon and saw the side of the moon away from the Earth.

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JOE PATERNO WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1926. Born in Brooklyn, Paterno was the head football coach at Pennsylvania State University from 1966 to 2011, leading the program to two national championships and numerous bowl appearances. He led the Nittany Lions to five undefeated seasons and became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history in 2011. Paterno was admired for his coaching style, which espoused a blend of ethical behavior, concern for academics and respect for the tenets of the game. In 2011, though, he was abruptly fired in the fallout from a child sex-abuse scandal that involved a former staff assistant. In 2012 the NCAA vacated 111 Penn State wins dating back to 1998. But in January 2015, those wins were reinstated, giving Paterno a record 409 wins. He died in 2012 in Pennsylvania.

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ELVIS PRESLEY MET PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON ON THIS DAY IN 1971. After writing President Richard M. Nixon offering to be a “Federal Agent-at-Large” to fight drug abuse and the drug culture, Elvis Presley met with Nixon at the White House. Presley was not made a federal agent, but the two men had a cordial meeting. The photograph of them shaking hands is the most requested reproduction from the National Archives (more than the Bill of Rights or the U.S. Constitution).

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY WILL HOST “Brooklyn, New York: The Way of the World” tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival will present a special 10-year anniversary screening of Brooklyn documentaries. The main film feature will be an excerpted portion of Ric Burns’ documentary opus “New York, A Documentary Film,” followed by a post-screening discussion with Burns. Additional Brooklyn documentaries will also be presented. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

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

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“The more I go through parenting, the more I say I owe my mother an apology.” — actor Ray Romano, who was born on this day in 1957