History Brooklyn Boro

MILESTONES: May 30, birthdays for Cee Lo Green, Idina Menzel, Jared Gilmore

Brooklyn Today

May 30, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Singer and "The Voice" star Cee Lo Green celebrates his birthday today. Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 149th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Gale Sayers and Manny Ramirez, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article on the front page titled “Heroes of 3 Wars Parade in Honor of Soldier Dead.”

The article focused on a Brooklyn veterans parade meant to rekindle residents’ patriotism.

“As the column wound its long way up the asphalt stretch of Bedford Avenue, while gun carriages rumbled, the sharp clang of the hoofs rang forth and the sunlight gleamed on naked sword blades, the marching men passed between a double row of maples planted in memory of those who had died in the last and greatest of wars,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor KEIR DULLEA, who was born in 1936; soccer player STEVEN GERRARD, who was born in 1980; actor JARED GILMORE, who was born in 2000; singer, rapper and record producer CEELO GREEN, who was born in 1974; singer WYNONNA JUDD, who was born in 1964; actor TED MCGINLEY, who was born in 1958; actor COLM MEANEY, who was born in 1953; actress IDINA MENZEL, who was born in 1971; actor MICHAEL J. POLLARD, who was born in 1939; former baseball player MANNY RAMIREZ, who was born in 1972; Hall of Fame soccer player GALE SAYERS, who was born in 1943; actor STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY, who was born in 1951; and actor CLINT WALKER, who was born in 1927.

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CARL FABERGÉ WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1846. The goldsmith, designer and jeweler made the House of Fabergé an internationally known name with fantastical bejeweled decorative objects. His workshop began creating the famous imperial Easter eggs for Czars Alexander III and Nicholas II in 1885. After the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks shut down the House of Fabergé, and the family fled the country. Fabergé died in France in 1920.

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BENNY GOODMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1909. Known as the “King of Swing,” the jazz clarinetist and bandleader reigned in popularity, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. His band was the first to play jazz at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Goodman died in 1986 in New York.

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TODAY IS THE CHINESE DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL. An important Chinese observance, the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates a hero of ancient China, poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in protest against injustice and corruption. It is said that rice dumplings were cast into the water to lure fish away from the body of the martyr, and this is remembered by the eating of zhong zi, glutinous rice dumplings filled with meat and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Traditionally, dragon boat races are held on rivers.

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MEL BLANC WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1908. Although he performed more than 400 voices in his career, the voice actor is best remembered for “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies,” in which he performed the voices of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweetie Pie and Road Runner. Blanc died in 1989 in California. His gravestone reads, “That’s All, Folks.”

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COUNTEE CULLEN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1903. As one of the leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance, he wrote poetry, novels, plays and children’s books. Cullen died in New York in 1946.

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

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“We shall not always plant while others reap.” — poet Countee Cullen, who was born on this day in 1903