MILESTONES: January 23, birthdays for Mariska Hargitay, Tito Ortiz, Taffani Thiessen

January 23, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Mariska Hargitay. Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 23rd day of the year.

On this day in 1943, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on British 8th Army’s taking of Tripoli, once called “the Jewel City of the now-vanished Italian empire.” However, Brooklyn figured into this story, as a group called the “Flatbush Fusioneers” was among the troops stationed in Tunisia. Its commanding officer, Capt. Lloyd M. Barnett, hailed from Ocean Avenue in Flatbush. Half his artillery unit was also from Brooklyn.

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On this day in 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page features news of King Edward VII’s becoming monarch of Great Britain following the death of Queen Victoria. Various reports covered the oath of offices that the king and members of Parliament took; the king’s entrance into the capital, Queen Victoria’s funeral and the actions of various other European nations such as Denmark.

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On this day in 1920, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the Netherlands, under the rule of the strong-willed Queen Wilhelmina, refused to extradite the former Kaiser of Germany. He had abdicated the German throne in November 1918 following labor unrest, mutiny within the German navy and threatened revolution. The former kaiser, having suffered further personal tragedy, also declined Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s 1941 offer of asylum as Adolf Hitler invaded the Netherlands. He preferred living under German occupation, but he died the next year.

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On this day in 1941, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page a story about famed aviator hero Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. Lindbergh told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the United States had best negotiate with Adolf Hitler for peace terms because, in Lindbergh’s opinion, the U.S. and Great Britain “can’t beat Hitler.” He also denounced President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s lend-lease program to aide Britain. Lindbergh and his wife had moved to Europe after the murder of their baby and had become enamored with German nationalism. When Lindbergh later allowed himself to be decorated by Hitler, he received a sharp rebuke from Roosevelt. Lindbergh abruptly resigned from the Air Force Reserve. However, he did eventually fight on the side of the Allies, in the Japanese theater. About a decade later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Lindbergh to brigadier general of the Air Force Reserve.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor Richard Dean Anderson, who was born in 1950; Princess Caroline of Hanover, who was born in 1957; U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, who was born in 1947; actor Gil Gerard, who was born in 1943; college football executive and former player Pat Haden, who was born in 1953; actress Mariska Hargitay, who was born in 1964; actor Rutger Hauer, who was born in 1944; actress Gail O’Grady, who was born in 1963; mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz, who was born in 1975; singer and actress Chita Rivera, who was born in 1933; and actress Tiffani Thiessen, who was born in 1974.

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ELIZABETH BLACKWELL RECEIVED A MEDICAL DEGREE ON THIS DAY IN 1849. She became the first woman to receive an MD degree. The native of Bristol, England, was awarded her degree by the Medical Institution of Geneva, NY.

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TODAY IS NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY. It is popularly observed on birthday of John Hancock to encourage more legible handwriting.

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EDOUARD MANET WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1832. The painter is best-known for his paintings “Olympia” and “Déjeuner sur l’herbe.” Manet died in 1883 in Paris.

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ERNIE KOVACS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1919. Throughout the ’40s and ’50s the comedian and TV pioneer made a name for himself hosting his own shows, including “The Ernie Kovacs Show” and “Ernie in Kovacsland” and a variety of quiz shows. He died in a car accident in California in 1962.

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STENDHAL WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1783. The French author, born Marie-Henri Beyle, was known as Stendhal, his pseudonym. His best-remembered novels are “The Red and the Black” (1831) and “The Charterhouse of Parma” (1839). Stendhal died in Paris in 1842.

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THE USS PUEBLO WAS SEIZED BY NORTH KOREA ON THIS DAY IN 1968. The ship was seized in the Sea of Japan, claiming the ship was on a spy mission. The crew was held for 11 months and the vessel was confiscated. Accompanying the crew when released — on Dec. 22, 1968 — was the body of Duane D. Hodges, the only crewman killed.

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JOHN HANCOCK WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1737. The American patriot and statesman is best remembered as the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hancock served as president of the Continental Congress and served as Massachusetts governor for nine terms beginning in 1780. Because of his conspicuous signature on the Declaration, Hancock’s name has become part of the American language, referring to any handwritten signature. Born in Massachusetts, he died there in 1793.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORY SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Current/Bodies: Art and Action on The Waterfront” tonight at 6:30 p.m. BHS and Underwater New York will present six New York artists and writers whose works address the history and future of our waterways. Join photographer Chester Higgins, visual artists Barry Rosenthal, Nancy Nowacek and Francis Estrada, and poets Cynthia Manick and Wo Chan as they consider New York’s waterfront as a site of continuity and a threshold for political, social and environmental change. 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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“A novel is a mirror carried along a main road.” — Stendhal, who was born on this day in 1783