MILESTONES: March 27, birthdays for Mariah Carey, Quentin Tarantino, Fergie

March 27, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

Mariah Carey. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer Mariah Carey, who was born in 1970; former football player Randall Cunningham, who was born in 1963; singer Fergie, who was born in 1975; actor Nathan Fillion, who was born in 1971; musician Kimbra, who was born in 1990; actor and director Austin Pendleton, who was born in 1940; actress Pauley Perrette, who was born in 1969; Oscar Award-winning director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, who was born in 1963; former NASCAR driver Cale Yarborough, who was born in 1939; and actor Michael York, who was born in 1942.

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THORNE SMITH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1892. Perhaps the most critically neglected popular author of the 20th century, he authored “Rain in the Doorway,” “The Stray Lamb” and “Topper.” Smith died in 1934 in Florida.

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“SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1952. MGM’s film-musical premiered in New York. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, it featured the songs “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Good Morning” and “Make ’Em Laugh.” The film depicted a Hollywood romance at the time the “talkies” — movies with sound — arrived. Directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the film was only nominated for two Oscars, yet is now regarded as one of the greatest movie-musicals.

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SARAH VAUGHAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1924. The legendary jazz singer was renowned for her melodic improvising, wide vocal range and extraordinary technique. She began her career by winning an amateur contest at New York’s Apollo Theater in 1943. She was hired by Earl Hines to accompany his band as his relief pianist and as a singer. She was given the nickname “The Divine One” by Chicago DJ Dave Garroway, a moniker that would remain with her the rest of her life. Vaughan died in California in 1990.

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LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1886. Recognized by peers, critics, casual observers and the scope of history as one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, his simple and powerful works represented a shift in style and technique that defined the look and feel of the modern industrial era. From 1938 to 1958, he served as chairperson of the school of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, whose campus contains 20 of his buildings. Mies van der Rohe died in Illinois in 1969.

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

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“Not yesterday, not tomorrow, only today can be given form.” — architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who was born on this day in 1886