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MILESTONES: December 18, birthdays for Christina Aguilera, Sia, Keith Richards

December 18, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Christina Aguilera Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer Christina Aguilera, who was born on Staten Island in 1980; actor Josh Dallas, who was born in 1978; actress Rachel Griffiths, who was born in 1968; actress Katie Holmes, who was born in 1978; actor Ray Liotta, who was born in 1954; movie critic and author Leonard Maltin, who was born in New York City in 1950; author Michael Moorcock, who was born in 1939; former basketball player Charles Oakley, who was born in 1963; actor Brad Pitt, who was born in 1963; musician and singer Keith Richards, who was born in 1943; and Oscar Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who was born in 1946.

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JOSEPH GRIMALDI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1778. Known as the “greatest clown in history” and the “king of pantomime,” Grimaldi began his stage career at age 2. He was an accomplished singer, dancer and acrobat. Born in England, he is best remembered as the original “Joey the Clown” and for the innovative humor he brought to the clown’s role in theater. Illness forced his early retirement in 1823, and he died in London in 1837.

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TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY. It is a day to recognize the contributions that millions of migrant workers make to the global economy and seeks to draw attention to the precarious state of their rights.

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OSSIE DAVIS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1917. Davis began his career as an actor with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem in the 1940s. He became involved with civil rights, counting among his friends W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, and worked to promote African-Americans in the entertainment industry throughout his life. Often sharing the stage or screen with wife Ruby Dee, he was featured in dozens of stage productions and feature films. Davis died in 2005 in Florida.

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TY COBB WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1886. Considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, Cobb holds the record for career batting average (.367). He played in more than 3,000 games over 24 years, mostly for the Detroit Tigers, and played his final two seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics. At the time of his retirement in 1928, he held many career records that have since been broken, including hits, runs scored and stolen bases, and in 1936 he was among the first five players inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A savvy businessman, he quickly realized the value of using his celebrity for marketing and amassed a fortune through investments in several companies, including Coca Cola and General Motors. Cobb died in Georgia in 1961.

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

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“I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.” — Keith Richards, who was born on this day in 1943

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