History Brooklyn Boro

January 27, birthdays for Keith Olbermann, Cris Collinsworth, Alan Cumming

Brooklyn Today

January 27, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Political commentator and TV host Keith Olbermann celebrates his birthday today. AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the ninth day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Joan Baez and Catherine Middleton, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “$25,000 Awarded for Luna Injuries.”

The article focused on a New Jersey woman who was injured on an amusement park ride in Coney Island’s Luna Park.

“According to Edgar Chapman, the couple’s attorney, the Muros were having a gay time on ‘The Magic Carpet’ when the heel of Mrs. Muro’s shoe caught in the chain which moves the carpet over a series of roller bumps. Her right leg was broken in three places, it was alleged, and her ankle broken so that walking is made difficult,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include ballet dancer and actor MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV, who was born in 1948; sportscaster and former football player CRIS COLLINSWORTH, who was born in 1959; actor JAMES CROMWELL, who was born in 1942; Tony Award-winning actor ALAN CUMMING, who was born in 1965; singer BRIDGET FONDA, who was born in 1964; sportscaster and former soccer player JULIE FOUDY, who was born in 1971; model LIU WEN, who was born in 1988; pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient MAIREAD CORRIGAN MAGUIRE, who was born in 1944; journalist and political commentator KEITH OLBERMANN, who was born in 1959; U.S. Chief Justice JOHN G. ROBERTS JR., who was born in 1955; and actress MIMI ROGERS, who was born in 1956.

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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1756. The composer and musician began performing at age 3 and composing at age 5. Some of the most famous of his more than 600 compositions are the operas “Marriage of Figaro,” “Don Giovanni,” “Così fan tutte” and “The Magic Flute”; his unfinished “Requiem Mass”; his C major symphony known as the “Jupiter”; and many of his quartets and piano concertos. He died in Austria in 1791.

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TODAY IS NATIONAL PRESCHOOL FITNESS DAY. The day promotes healthy lifestyle habits, physical education and healthy eating in preschool children.

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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY WAS FOUNDED ON THIS DAY IN 1888. The largest nonprofit scientific and educational institution in the world was incorporated after an initial meeting in which a group of 33 geographers, explorers, cartographers, teachers and other professionals met at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss organizing a “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” The first president was Gardiner Greene Hubbard. The first National Geographic magazine was published nine months later in October 1888.

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AUSCHWITZ WAS LIBERATED ON THIS DAY IN 1945. The Soviet army liberated about 6,000 prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp. It is estimated that 1.5 million inmates were killed at the camp between 1941 and its liberation.

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LEWIS CARROLL WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1832. Born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the English mathematician and author is best-known for his novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The book was written for Alice Liddell, the daughter of a friend, and was first published in 1865. He died in England in 1898.

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“LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1976. The ABC sitcom was a spin-off of the popular TV show “Happy Days” that was also set during the late ’50s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Penny Marshall (sister of series co-creator Garry Marshall) starred as Laverne DeFazio with Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney. The two friends worked at a brewery and shared a basement apartment. The show’s last episode aired on May 10, 1983.

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

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“I just think if you’re 44 years old and you’re not smarter than you were when you were 35 years old or 25 years old, just stay in your room.” — Keith Olbermann, who was born on this day in 1959