MILESTONES: May 22, birthdays for Naomi Campbell, Frank Converse, Garry Wills

May 22, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

Naomi Campbell. Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP

Share this:

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include director and actor Richard Benjamin, who was born in 1938; WWE superstar Daniel Bryan, who was born in 1981; model and actress Naomi Campbell, who was born in 1970; actor Frank Converse, who was born in 1938; tennis player Novak Djokovic, who was born in 1987; actress Ginnifer Goodwin, who was born in 1978; former baseball player Tommy John, who was born in 1943; actress A.J. Langer, who was born in 1974; U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was born in 1957; conductor, composer and pianist Peter Nero, who was born in Brooklyn in 1934; Hall of Fame football player Mick Tingelhoff, who was born in 1940; Olympic figure skater Tatiana Volosozhar, who was born in 1986; and author Garry Wills, who was born in 1934.

***

RICHARD WAGNER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1813. The German composer is best remembered for the revolutionary changes he made in the structure of opera. Wagner died in Italy in 1883.

***

GEORGE BEST WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1946. The soccer star began his professional career at age 17. Best played mainly for Manchester United, for which he scored 178 goals in 466 appearances. He died in England in 2005. More than 100,000 mourners lined the streets of his hometown for his funeral procession, and at British soccer matches a minute of silence (or applause) was observed in his honor.

***

SUN RA WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1914. Born Herman Blount, he was a pioneering and innovative jazz musician whose avant-garde performances mixed elements of theater with his surreal composition and performance style. Ra died in Alabama in 1993.

***

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY 1859. The British physician is best remembered as a mystery author and the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Doyle died in England in 1930.

***

MARY CASSATT WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1844. A leading American artist of the impressionist school, she settled in Paris in 1874, where she was influenced by Edgar Degas and the impressionists. She was later instrumental in their works becoming well known in the U.S. The majority of her paintings and pastels were based on the theme of mother and child. After 1900, her eyesight began to fail, and by 1914 she was no longer able to paint. Cassatt died in France in 1926.

***

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

***

“Joy is not in things; it is in us.” — Richard Wagner, who was born on this day in 1813