MILESTONES: January 15, birthdays for Pitbull, Skrillex, Andrea Martin

January 15, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Pitbull. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include football player Drew Brees, who was born in 1979; author Ernest J. Gaines, who was born in 1933; Hawaii Gov. David Ige, who was born in 1957; actor Chad Lowe, who was born in 1968; actress Andrea Martin, who was born in 1947; actress Margaret O’Brien, who was born in 1937; rapper Pitbull, who was born in 1981; actor Mario Van Peebles, who was born In 1957; and DJ and producer Skrillex, who was born in 1988.

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MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1929. King, a civil rights leader, minister, advocate of nonviolence and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was born at Atlanta, Georgia. He was assassinated in Memphis on Apr. 4, 1968. After his death many states and territories observed his birthday as a holiday. In 1983 Congress approved HR 3706, “A bill to amend Title 5, United States Code, to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, a legal public holiday.” Signed by the president on Nov. 2, 1983, it became Public Law 98–144. The law sets the third Monday in January for observance of King’s birthday.

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THE FIRST SUPERBOWL WAS PLAYED ON THIS DAY IN 1967. The Green Bay Packers won the first NFL–AFL World Championship Game, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Packers quarterback Bart Starr was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Pro football’s title game later became known as the Super Bowl.

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THE PENTAGON WAS COMPLETED ON THIS DAY IN 1943. The world’s largest office building with 6.5 million square feet of usable space, the Pentagon is located in Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., and serves as headquarters for the Department of Defense.

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TODAY IS MOLIERE DAY. Most celebrated of French authors and dramatists, Jean Baptiste Poquelin, was baptized in Paris on this day in 1622. He took the stage name Moliere when he was about 22 years old. While playing in a performance of his last play, “Le Malade Imaginaire” (about a hypochondriac afraid of death), Moliere became ill and died within a few hours in Paris in 1673.