MILESTONES: May 15, birthdays for Emmitt Smith, Madeleine Albright, Jasper Johns

May 15, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

Emmitt Smith. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer and actress Anna Maria Alberghetti, who was born in 1936; former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in 1937; Hall of Fame baseball player and executive George Brett, who was born in 1953; singer and actor David Charvet, who was born in 1972; filmmaker David Cronenberg, who was born in 1943; soccer player Dwayne De Rosario, who was born in 1978; musician and producer Brian Eno, who was born in 1948; TV host and actress Giselle Fernandez, who was born in 1961; actor Lee Horsley, who was born in 1955; artist Jasper Johns, who was born in 1930; singer and actress Lainie Kazan, who was born in 1940; actor David Krumholtz, who was born in 1978; Hall of Fame football player Ray Lewis, who was born in 1975; singer and actor Trini Lopez, who was born in 1937; baseball player Justin Morneau, who was born in 1981; tennis player Andy Murray, who was born in 1987; actor, playwright and screenwriter Chazz Palminteri, who was born in 1952; sportscaster and radio personality Dan Patrick, who was born in 1956; former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who was born in 1948; actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who was born in 1981; Hall of Fame football player Emmitt Smith, who was born in 1969; broadcaster and Hall of Fame baseball player John Smoltz, who was born in 1967; and actor Sam Trammell, who was born in 1969.

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RICHARD AVEDON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1923. The influential photographer began his career with the merchant marines, taking personnel identification photos and images of shipwrecks. Later, he worked for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, where his artistic style of shooting fashion models against famous backgrounds revolutionized the industry’s approach to fashion layouts. He was known for taking memorable, while not necessarily flattering, portraits and was honored with retrospectives and exhibits at many museums. He received the National Medal for the Arts in 2003 and died in New York in 2004.

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GEORGE WALLACE WAS SHOT ON THIS DAY IN 1972. The former governor of Alabama and a symbol of segregation was shot by Arthur Bremer while Wallace was in Laurel, Maryland, campaigning for the U.S. presidency. For the remainder of his life (until he died in 1998 in Alabama), Wallace was paralyzed from the waist down. Bremer was sentenced to 67 years in prison for the shooting.

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LYMAN FRANK BAUM WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1856. The American newspaperman who wrote the “Wizard of Oz” stories was born in Chittenango, N.Y. Although “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is the most famous, Baum also wrote many other books for children, including more than a dozen about Oz. He died in California in 1919.

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TENZING NORGAY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1914. The Sherpa and co-conqueror of Mount Everest was raised in Nepal and began mountaineering as a porter. Having participated in six previous attempts at scaling Mount Everest, he was the most experienced Everest climber on the British expedition of 1953, and on May 29, he and New Zealander Edmund Hillary were the first two men atop the world’s highest mountain. Norgay died in 1983 in India.

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

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“The best book, like the best speech, will do it all — make us laugh, think, cry and cheer — preferably in that order.” — Madeleine Albright, who was born on this day in 1937