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MILESTONES: October 20, birthdays for Snoop Dogg, John Krasinski, Candice Swanepoel

Brooklyn Today

October 20, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Snoop Dogg. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 295th day of the year.

On this day in 1941, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that Senate Republicans moved to repeal the Neutrality Act and were planning secret meetings to rearm merchant ships. Senators who were anti-interventionists then threatened to include a rider to any such repeal vote that would serve to force a vote on declaring war on Germany. These actions took place after Europe was already at war, and just a few weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor … Meanwhile the Duke and Duchess of Windsor — that is former King Edward VIII, who had abdicated the throne, and his new wife, Wallis Warfield Simpson — arrived in New York to a very sparse welcome crowd, which was in accordance with the royals’ wish for privacy. Later, however, throngs crowded City Hall, thinking that the duke and duchess were about to visit the mayor.

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On this day in 1925, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the Board of Estimate’s executive meeting that met the demand of union leaders and approved pay raises for laborers and other classes of city employees, including sanitation workers, so that they would be paid on a union scale, the prevailing wage for those in private industry. However, they shot down the teachers and added 20,000 more policemen to the force, despite support for the latter from 30 civic groups … Also in Brooklyn, an elderly couple proved that love isn’t just for young people. Two widowed people, Samuel Barron, 87 and Jennie Singer, 85, fell in love when Barron saved the lady from being hit by an oncoming truck. The two, discovering they were neighbors, got married.

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Sports made the lead headlines on this day in 1934. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the MacRobertson International air race, which featured 19 planes whose pilots were vying for the prize for flying from England to Australia. In the early part of the race, a Dutch team of pilots flying an American Douglas airplane appeared to be in the lead. In football, Fordham was battling Princeton … In Downtown Brooklyn, a trolley motorman who fell ill during his shift considered his passengers first before his own medical attention. Stricken near Carlton and DeKalb avenue, motorman Charles Hooper got a transit inspector to take over the trolley while passengers helped him onto a seat. He collapsed from the seat and was taken off the trolley. With a doctor and priest from St. Boniface Church (now the Brooklyn Oratory) at his side, Hooper died. His passengers were safe.

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On this day in 1953, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that NYC’s Republican Gov. Thomas Dewey “boomeranged” a charge back to Democrat mayoral candidate Robert Wagner, who had accused a top GOP official of seeking clemency for labor extortionist Joey Fay. GOP leaders challenged Wagner to name his source in hopes that he would not be able to do so and that his campaign would be damaged. However, Wagner was elected mayor that November and was in office until 1965. Moreover, posterity showed him to be one of the most memorable and effective mayors, according to a 1991 New York Times obituary.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include filmmaker and Oscar Award-winning director DANNY BOYLE, who was born in 1956; rapper, actor and record producer SNOOP DOGG, who was born in 1971; former baseball player KEITH HERNANDEZ, who was born in 1953; actor JOHN KRASINSKI, who was born in 1979; Emmy Award-winning actress MELANIE MAYRON, who was born in 1952; actor VIGGO MORTENSEN, who was born in 1958; and model CANDICE SWANEPOEL, who was born in 1988.

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MICKEY MANTLE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1931. The baseball Hall of Famer played his entire career with the New York Yankees (1951-1968), who retired his iconic jersey No. 7 in 1969. “The Mick” had a career 536 home runs, was named to 20 American League All-Star teams and was named MVP in 1956, 1957 and 1962. He died in 1995.

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THE SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE OCCURRED ON THIS DAY IN 1973. In a dramatic turn in the Watergate scandal, the White House announced that President Richard M. Nixon had discharged Archibald Cox (special Watergate prosecutor) and William B. Ruckelshaus (deputy attorney general) and that Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson had resigned. Immediate and widespread demands for impeachment of the president ensued and were not stilled until Nixon resigned in Aug. 9, 1974.

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THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE OPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1973. One of the most iconic and dramatic man-made structures of the 20th century, the opera house was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, the theater is perched on Sydney Harbor and appears to be a ship in full sail. It took 14 years to build, and its roof is covered with more than 1 million tiles.

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

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“Everybody’s private motto: It’s better to be popular than right.” — Mark Twain

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