MILESTONES: July 9 birthdays for Richard Roundtree, Tom Hanks, Courtney Love

July 9, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

Richard Roundtree. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who was born in 1932; “Shaft” star Richard Roundtree, who was born in 1942; “Strangers” author Dean Koontz, who was born in 1945; “October Sky” star Chris Cooper, who was born in 1951; U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was born in 1955; “NYPD Blue” star Jimmy Smits, who was born in Brooklyn in 1955; Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, who was born in 1956; Hole singer Courtney Love, who was born in 1964; Anthrax bassist Frank Bello, who was born in 1965; The White Stripes singer Jack White, who was born in 1975; “The Wonder Years” star Fred Savage, who was born in 1976; long-distance runner and Olympian Kara Goucher, who was born in 1978; and Cheetah Girl Kiely Williams, who was born in 1986.

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MAKING AMENDS: The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day in 1868. It provided that no state shall have the right to abridge the rights of any citizen without due process and equal protection under the law. It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves after the Civil War.

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HIGH-WATER MARK: The highest tsunami in history was recorded on this day in 1958. An earthquake registering 8.3 on the Richter scale caused a massive landslide at the head of Lituya Bay, Alaska, which in turn created a tsunami of 1,700 feet. A 300-foot wave immediately followed, scouring bare about four to five square miles of land on both sides of the bay. Amazingly, only five people were killed.

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

Quotable:

“If you do the same thing too often, it gets to be the only thing you can do.”

— Richard Roundtree, who was born on this day in 1942