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MILESTONES: October 17, birthdays for Eminem, Alan Jackson, Jacob Artist

Brooklyn Today

October 17, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Eminem. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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On this day in 1936, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, while visiting New York state, would speak in Brooklyn to help swing a very “doubtful state.” Brooklyn Borough President Raymond V. Ingersoll, who defined himself as an “independent Democrat,” said that he would back Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, the Republican candidate for president. Republican leaders were also predicting that other independent Democrat voters and civil service workers would vote for Landon. So, national and state Democratic Chairman James A. Farley asked Roosevelt to speak in Brooklyn to forestall independent Democrat leaders’ abdication to Republican candidate Alf Landon, and to keep Wall Street on board. The Eagle stated, “Brooklyn has more Democratic voters per square mile than any other place in the world,” and that Roosevelt’s stumping was needed to stem anti-Roosevelt and anti-New Deal sentiment.

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On this day in 1940, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the United States was preparing to build a draft army, and that Brooklyn had already registered more than 350,000 young men. The infrastructure was being set to create a draft army of 5,000,000 men, which would be the “first peacetime conscripted Army in the United States.” The lead sentence, however, may very well have contained a typo, because it set the number of men who had already registered nationally as being “16,000,000” — obviously way over the stated goal of draftees!

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor JACOB ARTIST, who was born in 1992; golfer ERNIE ELS, who was born in 1969; musician, rapper and actor EMINEM, who was born in 1972; country music star ALAN JACKSON, who was born in 1958; scientist and astronaut MAE JEMISON, who was born in 1956; actress MARGOT KIDDER, who was born in 1948; comedian and actor NORM MACDONALD, who was born in 1963; actor MICHAEL McKEAN, who was born in 1947; sportscaster, football coach, former football player and former professional wrestler STEVE McMICHAEL, who was born in 1957; newspaper columnist and film reviewer RICHARD ROEPER, who was born in 1959; and actor GEORGE WENDT, who was born in 1948.

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ROBERT KNIEVEL, KNOWN BY HIS NICKNAME “EVEL,” WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1938. He gained worldwide fame as a stunt performer, conceiving of and executing a series of increasingly outlandish motorcycle jumps throughout the 1970s that often resulted in crashes and broken bones. Knievel died in 2007.

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TODAY IS BLACK POETRY DAY. It is a day to recognize the contribution of black poets to American life and culture and to honor Jupiter Hammon, the first black person in America to publish his own verse. Jupiter Hammon of Huntington, Long Island, was born in 1711.

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ARTHUR MILLER WAS BORN IN HARLEM ON THIS DAY IN 1915. Miller began writing plays in college and also published several novels and collections of short stories. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for “Death of a Salesman,” one of the most significant works in American literature. The play won the Tony Award twice: once in 1949 and again in 1999 when it won for Best Revival. Miller also received a Tony for “The Crucible,” a drama about the Salem witch trials, and a lifetime achievement award in 1999. He was married to actress Marilyn Monroe from 1956 to 1961 and wrote the 1963 play “After the Fall” about their relationship. Much of his writing was done in Brooklyn and focused on the borough. He died in 2005.

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TODAY IS THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY. The U.N. General Assembly proclaimed this observance to promote public awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly the developing nations. For more information, visit un.org.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Our Bums: The Lasting Legacy of the Brooklyn Dodgers” tonight at 6:30 p.m. Fifty years after the Dodgers’ heartwrenching move to Los Angeles, “Dem Bums” still hold a special place in Brooklyn’s shared memory. Historian and author David Krell has plenty of Dodgers lore and stories to share about the history of the team and how they (especially Jackie Robinson) helped to define modern sports and popular culture. 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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“Don’t be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.” — Arthur Miller

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