MILESTONES: September 5, birthdays for Michael Keaton, Rose McGowan, Bob Newhart

September 5, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

Michael Keaton. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include singer and actor Dweezil Zappa, who was born in 1969; actress Kristian Alfonso, who was born in 1963; actress Raquel Welch, who was born in 1940; basketball player Elena Donne, who was born in 1989; comedian Bob Newhart, who was born in 1929; actor William Devane, who was born in 1939; actress Rose McGowan, who was born in 1973; actor Dennis Dugan, who was born in 1946; singer Carol Lawrence, who was born in 1932; cartoonist Cathy Lee Guisewite, who was born in 1950; Olympic figure skater Kim Yuna, who was born in 1990; and actor Michael Keaton, who was born in 1951.

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THE VOYAGER I space probe was launched on this day in 1977. The spacecraft has been operational for 41 years and still transmits data to Earth about the outer Solar System. Voyager I is the most distant man-made object from Earth, having set the record in 1998 after traveling 6.5 billion miles from its launch site.

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ARTHUR NIELSEN was born on this day in 1897 in Chicago. In 1923, the market researcher founded the AC Nielsen Company, where he developed a method for monitoring television and radio viewership called the Nielsen Ratings, which quickly became the primary means of measuring TV audiences in the country. Nielsen died in Chicago in 1980.

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THE FIRST LABOR DAY was held on this day in New York City in 1882. The holiday was organized by the Central Labor Union, an early trade union with a Marxist bent that later broke into various locals. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894. It’s now considered the unofficial end of summer, often celebrated at the beach or with a barbecue.

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NOTORIOUS OUTLAW JESSE JAMES was born on this day in 1847 in Centerville, Missouri. Along with his brother Frank and the gang they formed, James held up banks, stagecoaches and trains. During an attempted robbery at a bank in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876, every member of the gang was killed or captured except the James brothers. James was killed for a bounty by Robert Ford, a trusted member of his inner circle, at his home in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1882.

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“I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘to put down.’”

—Bob Newhart, who was born on this day in 1929