MILESTONES: August 15, birthdays for Anthony Anderson, Jennifer Lawrence, Joe Jonas

August 15, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

Anthony Anderson. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include the first woman mayor of Houston Kathryn Whitmire, who was born in 1946; actor Ben Affleck, who was born in 1972; Olympic beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh, who was born in 1978; actor Anthony Anderson, who was born in 1970; actress Debra Messing, who was born in Brooklyn in 1968; Princess Anne of the UK, who was born in 1950; actress Jennifer Lawrence, who was born in 1990; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer, who was born in 1938; civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, who was born in 1935; journalist Linda Ellerbee, who was born in 1944; singer Joe Jonas, who was born in 1989; director Alejandro Iñárritu, who was born in 1963; and actor Zeljko Ivanek, who was born in 1957.

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THE BEATLES PLAYED AT SHEA STADIUM in Flushing Meadows, Queens on this day in 1961 to a crowd of 55,600, a record-breaking number of concert attendees. It was the first time a venue of that size had been used for a musical performance. The event set one more record — the $304,000 the band grossed for a single show, the highest amount at that point in history.

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JULIA CHILD was born on this day in 1912. Child didn’t begin studying the culinary arts until her 30s, but soon became a beloved American food authority and cookbook author. Her debut cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” has been credited with helping to reignite America’s interest in home cooking after decades of highly-processed convenience foods. Later, Child starred in the popular television cooking show, “The French Chef.” She died in 2004.

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THE WOODSTOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL debuted on this day in 1969. The three-day festival was billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music,” and held at a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York. Some of the acts included Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. The festival drew a crowd of more than 400,000 and is remembered as a seminal moment in rock history, and in the counter-culture movement of the 1960s.

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“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”

—Julia Child, who was born on this day in 1912