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MILESTONES: August 7 birthdays for Charlize Theron, Wayne Knight, Bruce Dickinson

August 7, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History
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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “A Prairie Home Companion” creator Garrison Keillor, who was born in 1942; Pro Football Hall of Famer and jurist Alan Page, who was born in 1945; television producer Marty Appel, who was born in Brooklyn in 1948; political activist and author Alan Keyes, who was born in 1950; “Seinfeld” star Wayne Knight, who was born in 1955; Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, who was born in 1958; “The X-Files” star David Duchovny, who was born in 1960; Reason editor-at-large Nick Gillespie, who was born in Brooklyn in 1963; 2010 World Series MVP Edgar Renteria, who was born in 1975; Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, who was born in 1975; fashion designer Charlotte Ronson, who was born in 1977; “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” star Cirroc Lofton, who was born in 1978; “Limitless” star Abbie Cornish, who was born in 1982; Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who was born in 1987; and three-time American League MVP Mike Trout, who was born in 1991.

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HEART OF A WARRIOR: On this day in 1782, at Newburgh, N.Y., Gen. George Washington ordered the creation of a Badge of Military Merit. The badge consisted of a purple cloth heart with silver braided edge. Only three are known to have been awarded during the Revolutionary War. The award was reinstituted on the bicentennial of Washington’s birth, Feb. 22, 1932, and recognizes those wounded in action.

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LET’S PLAY THE FEUD: On this day in 1882, the long-simmering tension between two Appalachian families who lived near Tug Fork on the Kentucky-West Virginia border erupted into full-scale violence when brothers Tolbert, Pharmer and Randolph McCoy knifed and shot Ellison Hatfield. The Hatfield family captured the three McCoys. When Ellison died on Aug. 9, the Hatfields executed the brothers. The feud continued with much loss of life. In 1888, when Kentucky authorities sought to detain the feud murder suspects and West Virginia authorities complained, the dispute went all the way to the Supreme Court, which decided in Kentucky’s favor. The feud sputtered out by the end of the century.

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

 

Quotable:

 

“Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.”

— Garrison Keillor, who was born on this day in 1942


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