MILESTONES: December 5, birthdays for Keri Hilson, Lauren London, Margaret Cho

December 5, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Keri Hilson Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress Morgan Brittany, who was born in 1951; opera singer Jose Carreras, who was born in 1946; actress and comedian Margaret Cho, who was born in 1968; author and journalist Joan Didion, who was born in 1934; singer Keri Hilson, who was born in 1982; actor Jeroen Krabbe, who was born in 1944; singer Little Richard, who was born in 1935; actress Lauren London, who was born in 1984; singer and songwriter Jim Messina, who was born in 1947; singer Chad Mitchell, who was born in 1936; Hall of Fame football player Art Monk, who was born in 1957; actor Frankie Muniz, who was born in 1985; actress Paula Patton, who was born in 1975; and author Calvin Trillin, who was born in 1935.

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WALT DISNEY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1901. The innovative animator, filmmaker, producer, studio head and theme park developer is best known for his creation of Mickey Mouse. He received a record-breaking 22 Academy Awards in competitive categories, as well as three honorary Oscars and the Irving Thalberg Award. He died in Los Angeles in 1966.

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PROHIBITION ENDED ON THIS DAY IN 1933. Prohibition ended with the repeal of the 18th Amendment, as the 21st Amendment was ratified. Congress proposed repeal of the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol within the U.S., on Feb. 20, 1933. By Dec. 5, the repeal amendment had been ratified by the required 36 states and went into effect immediately as the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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PRESIDENT MARTIN VAN BUREN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY in 1782. He served as the eighth president of the U.S. from 1837 to 1841 and was the first president to have been born an American citizen. His term was troubled by bank and business failures, depression and unemployment. He was born in New York and died there in 1862.

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TODAY IS WORLD SOIL DAY. It is a day recognizing that soils constitute the foundation for agricultural development, essential ecosystem functions and food security and hence are key to sustaining life on Earth. The U.N. General Assembly affirms the urgent need to raise awareness and to promote and facilitate national efforts and actions toward sustainable management of the limited world soil resources.

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FRITZ LANG WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1890. The Austrian filmmaker achieved critical success with his Expressionism-influenced 1927 silent film “Metropolis” and his first sound film “M,” both of which pit individuals against a corrupt society in a malignant, mechanistic world. Other works include “You Only Live Once” and “The Big Heat.” He died in Beverly Hills in 1976.

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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF GRANT’S SPEECH OF APOLOGY. President Ulysses S. Grant delivered his speech of apology to Congress in 1876 claiming mistakes he made while he was president were due to his inexperience. His errors, he said, were “errors of judgment, not intent.” While Grant’s personal integrity was never formally questioned, he was closely associated with many government scandals, which became public during his presidency. He unwittingly aided Jay Gould in an attempt to corner the gold market during his first term. During the second, the Credit Mobilier affair involving many of the president’s friends aired, while significant fraud was discovered in the Treasury Department and Indian Service.

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

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“Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever.” — Margaret Cho, who was born on this day in 1969