MILESTONES: January 30, birthdays for Christian Bale, Phil Collins, Vanessa Redgrave

January 30, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Christian Bale. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Share this:

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor Christian Bale, who was born in 1974; comedian and actress Brett Butler, who was born in 1958; former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born in 1941; musician Phil Collins, who was born in 1951; actor Charles S. Dutton, who was born in 1951; King Felipe VI of Spain, who was born in 1968; actor Gene Hackman, who was born in 1930; circus ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson, who was born in 1976; former baseball player Davey Johnson, who was born in 1943; actress Vanessa Redgrave, who was born in 1937; sportscaster and former basketball player Jalen Rose, who was born in 1973; chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was born in 1937, golfer Curtis Strange, who was born in 1955; and singer Jody Watley, who was born in 1959.

***

THE TET OFFENSIVE BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1968. After calling for a cease-fire during the Tet holiday celebrations, North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front launched a major offensive throughout South Vietnam on that holiday. Attacks erupted in 36 of the 44 provincial capitals and five of the six major cities. In addition, the Viet Cong attacked the US embassy in Saigon, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, the presidential palace and South Vietnamese general staff headquarters. Costing as many as 40,000 battlefield deaths, the offensive was a tactical defeat for the Viet Cong and North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese held their ground, and the US was able to airlift troops into the critical areas and quickly regain control. However, the offensive is credited as a strategic success in that it continued the demoralization of Americans. After Tet, American policy toward Vietnam shifted from winning the war to seeking an honorable way out.

***

THE BEATLES LAST CONCERT WAS ON THIS DAY IN 1969. On this day The Beatles performed together in public for the last time. The show took place on the roof of their Apple Studios in London, but it was interrupted by police after they received complaints from the neighbors about the noise.

***

THE FIRST BRAWL IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HAPPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1798. The first brawl to break out on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fight was precipitated by an argument between Matthew Lyon of Vermont and Roger Griswold of Connecticut. Lyon spat in Griswold’s face. Although a resolution to expel Lyon was introduced, the measure failed, and Lyon maintained his seat.

***
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1882. The only president to serve more than two terms, FDR was elected four times. He supported the Allies in WWII before the U.S. entered the struggle by supplying them with war materials through the Lend-Lease Act; he became deeply involved in broad decision making after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. Born in Hyde Park, he died a few months into his fourth term in Georgia in 1945.

***

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

***

“Beyond a certain point, the music isn’t mine anymore. It’s yours.” — Phil Collins, who was born on this day in 1951.