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MILESTONES: May 8, birthdays for Bill de Blasio, Enrique Igleasias, Tekashi 6IX9INE

May 8, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Mayor Bill de Blasio. AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Mayor Bill de Blasio. AP Photo/Julio Cortez
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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor Stephen Amell, who was born in 1981; author David Attenborough, who was born in 1926; guitarist Joe Bonamassa, who was born in 1977; sportscaster, former football coach and player Bill Cowher, who was born in 1957; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was born in 1961; actor Elyes Gabel, who was born in 1983; actress Melissa Gilbert, who was born in 1964; singer Enrique Iglesias, who was born in 1975; actor and director David Keith, who was born in 1954; race car driver Bobby Labonte, who was born in 1964;Hall of Fame football player Ronnie Lott, who was born in 1959; author Thomas Pynchon, who was born in 1937; and singer Toni Tennille, who was born in 1943. 

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MOUNT PELEE ERUPTED ON THIS DAY IN 1902. In the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, Mount Pelee erupted on the tiny French Caribbean island of Martinique. In minutes a cloud of ashes, gases and rocks destroyed the thriving port city of Saint-Pierre, killing all but one of its 30,000 inhabitants. 

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On this day in 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “At least 1,300 persons lost their lives, the British Admiralty estimates, when the Cunard Line steamship Lusitania was torpedoed yesterday afternoon off Old Head Kinsale, on the Irish coast … The work of compiling a list of those saved is progressing slowly because of the indescribable confusion at Queenstown, but apparently few first cabin passengers are among the survivors. The United States consul at that port can account for only 51 Americans saved out of 188 who were aboard. His roll does not include the names Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Charles Frohman, Elbert Hubbard, Justus Miles Forman, the author, or Charles Klein, the playwright.”

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JEAN-HENRI DUNANT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1828. The author and philanthropist was the founder of the Red Cross. His book “Un Souvenir de Solferino” is both a firsthand recounting of one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century and a proposal to establish relief aid to wartime wounded. The conference that resulted as a response to its call to action had two significant results: the founding of the Red Cross and the implementation of the international treaty known as the Geneva Convention. Dunant was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Dunant died in Switzerland in 1910. 

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ROBERT JOHNSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1911. The master blues guitarist was murdered at age 27, by a man who many believe was a jealous husband, in 1938 in Mississippi. Johnson was a guitarist, singer and songwriter of broad influence. He developed a unique guitar style of such skill that it was said he acquired his ability by selling his soul to the devil. His only two solo recording sessions captured the classics “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Cross Road Blues,” “Me and the Devil Blues,” “Dust My Broom” and others. Johnson was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY will host “Book Talk — ‘Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI’” tonight at 6:30 p.m. Between 1920 and 1924, more than two dozen people were killed on the oil-rich land of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma, most of them Osage themselves. A then-little-known law enforcement organization called the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in to discover the truth behind the killings, unraveling a conspiracy steeped in old prejudices and greed. Author David Grann will share his award-winning account of the story behind this historic tragedy. 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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“There is nothing wrong with listening. You can listen to people; you can hear people’s concerns. You can keep an open mind and still be perfectly strong.” — NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was born in this day in 1961

 

 


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