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MILESTONES: March 17 birthdays for Mia Hamm, Patrick Duffy, Gary Sinise

March 17, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History
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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include journalist and activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, who was born in 1933; Apollo 16 astronaut Ken Mattingly, who was born in 1936; baseball player and manager Cito Gaston, who was born in 1944; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful), who was born in 1944; “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy, who was born in 1949; “Escape from New York” star Kurt Russell, who was born in 1951; “Forrest Gump” star Gary Sinise, who was born in 1955; “NewsRadio” star Vicki Lewis, who was born in 1960; “St. Elmo’s Fire” star Rob Lowe, who was born in 1964; Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan, who was born in 1967; Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, who was born in 1972; National Soccer Hall of Famer Mia Hamm, who was born in 1972; “Star Wars” star John Boyega, who was born in 1992; and swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, who was born in 1997.

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BREXIT IN BEANTOWN: Today is Evacuation Day, which is celebrated as a holiday in parts of Massachusetts. On March 17, 1776, British forces under Gen. William Howe evacuated Boston after Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army fortified Dorchester Heights in early March. Held in tandem with St. Patrick’s Day festivities, Evacuation Day was declared a holiday in Boston in 1901. 

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MARCH ORDER: Gen. George Washington gave his troops a well-earned rest on this day in 1780. In Morristown, New Jersey, the general issued an order that St. Patrick’s Day was to be commemorated as a show of solidarity with the Irish people who also wanted freedom from British rule. It was the Continental Army’s first day of rest in more than a year.

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

 

Quotable:

 

“May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.”

— Irish blessing

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