Lower Manhattan’s Local News
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Governor Cuomo has issued an executive order requiring all people in New York to wear masks or face coverings in public, including when taking public or private transportation or riding in for-hire vehicles.
More information: coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home or call 1-888-364-3065.All non-essential workers must continue to work from home and schools will be closed through May 15 th, and everyone is required to maintain a 6-foot distance from others in public
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Latest Local Pandemic Statistics
Confirmed Infections Among Downtown Residents Jump by 31 Percent, But Lower Manhattan Remains One of Least-Affected Communities City-Wide
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Lower Manhattan’s eight zip codes are the site of 529 confirmed cases of coronavirus, up from 402 cases on April 9, which represents an increase of approximately 31 percent.
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A total of 529 residents of Lower Manhattan (among 1,285 who have been tested) are confirmed to have been infected by the pandemic coronavirus, according to statistics released by the City’s Department of Health (DOH). These numbers are current as of Thursday afternoon. Given the current City-wide mortality rate for COVID-19 (the disease caused by coronavirus) of approximately 6.4 percent, roughly 33 of these patients appear likely to die.
This updated tally for confirmed cases of coronavirus indicates that the total number of local residents known to be infected has jumped by 127 new cases, or approximately 31 percent, since April 9 (the date of the Broadsheet’s most recent update of these statistics), when the total number of Lower Manhattan cases was 402 patients. (This does not necessarily mean that the local rate of infection is growing at 31 percent per week, but may be a reflection more patients being tested.)
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This map, from the City’s Department of Health, categorizes Lower Manhattan as among the least-affected communities anywhere in the five boroughs, when ranked
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According to the DOH data, the local infection rates (outlined by zip code) break down as follows:
• 10280/Battery Park City South (below Brookfield Place): 32 confirmed cases, an increase of 9 new cases since April 9
• 10282/Battery Park City North (above Brookfield Place): 52 confirmed cases, an increase of 16 new cases
• 10007/Southern Tribeca (West Street to Broadway, north of Vesey Street and south of Chambers Street): 36 confirmed cases, an increase of 6 new cases
• 10013/Northern Tribeca (north of Chambers Street and south of Canal Street): 170 confirmed cases, an increase of 35 new cases
• 10006/Greenwich South (Broadway to West Street, south of Vesey Street and north of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel): 13 confirmed cases, an increase of 5 new cases
• 10004/Southern FiDi (West Street to the East River, south of Beaver Street): 24 confirmed cases, an increase of 4 new cases
• 10005/Eastern FiDi (Broadway to the East River, south of Maiden Lane, north of Beaver Street): 42 confirmed cases, an increase of 10 new cases
• 10038/the Civic Center and Seaport (Broadway to the East River, north of Maiden Lane and stretching a few blocks beyond the Brooklyn Bridge): 160 confirmed cases, an increase of 42 new cases
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A second map from the City’s Health Department indicates that all Lower Manhattan zip codes fall into the bottom two tranches, when ranked by the percentage of patients tested for COVID-19 who are confirmed to be infected.
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These data indicate that, among the total of 1,285 Downtown residents who have been tested for coronavirus, 41 percent have been confirmed to be infected. (This cannot be extrapolated to mean that the same percentage of all local residents are infected, because these tests — which are in gravely short supply — are being administered only to patients with severe symptoms, or those who are deemed to be at heightened risk of exposure.)
The combined population of these eight zip codes is approximately 81,000 residents. The total of 402 confirmed cases translates into an overall rate of infection of roughly sixth-tenths of one percent for all Lower Manhattan residents. This represents a slight increase from April 9, when the overall rate of infection for Lower Manhattan residents stood at of roughly one-half of one percent.
This translates into Lower Manhattan’s eight zip codes being among the least penetrated by the pandemic coronavirus, and among those where COVID-19 is least prevalent out of all the communities in the five boroughs of New York City.
Matthew Fenton
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‘As Sick as I’ve Ever Been in My Life’
One Survivor’s First-Person Account of Grappling with the Coronavirus
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(Editor’s Note: This narrative was supplied to the Broadsheet by a Battery Park City resident who has asked to remain anonymous.)
When I first heard about this, back in late January or early February, I wasn’t sure how it was different from a more serious version of seasonal flu, because the narrative was familiar — starting in Asia, and coming from some kind of animal population. The one difference I remember noting was that this sounded much more contagious.
After that, I didn’t think much more about it for several weeks, other than to frame it as a kind of “second” flu season. But near the end of February, the beginning of March, my perception changed, along with everybody else’s. This was clearly different, because of how it had jumped to humans, and how aggressively it was spreading.
When it hit Italy as hard as it did, I though this might be something to worry about. Maybe not for me, personally, but it was clear that a lot of people were going to be harmed by this, that a lot of people were going to do — especially the elderly and the most vulnerable. To read more…
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NEWS FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS
OF THE BROADSHEETDAILY
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A Personal Appreciation: Michael Sorkin
A Friend and Comrade of the Late Architect Recalls Battles Waged on Behalf of the Community
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Author, architect, critic, and scholar, Michael Sorkin: “Tribeca – and its surrounding neighborhoods — are among the most ‘at risk’ for the loss of an architecture and an aura that is unique not just in New York, but in the world. To fail to protect this brilliant and beloved environment is nothing less than vandalism.”
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Tribeca resident, professor, architect, and critic Michael Sorkin died on March 26 from the coronavirus. You might have seen the tributes pouring in from the architectural world. A chorus of accolades attested to Michael’s astonishing career and accomplishments, among them authoring 18 highly regarded books, being awarded multiple prizes and fellowships, writing criticism for the Village Voice, The Nation, and founding Terreform, a non-profit that published books on urban research.
Unbeknownst to many, Michael was also our neighbor and a fellow comrade-in-arms for Tribeca’s historic districts. I first met him when he moved to the corner of Chambers and Broadway in Tribeca, from Greenwich Village (where he documented his walk to work in the wonderful book of essays, “Twenty Minutes in Manhattan”). To read more…
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To the editor:
Very interesting report of covid19.
I felt exactly the same in the pandemic of 1967/68.
My husband is reading “1917” history of the Spanish Flu. He is totally astounded, involved, and surprised at what he was never informed of during secondary and college education.
Best,
Betty R
Gilroy, CA
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To the editor:
A disturbing report showed that runners shed the coronavirus over 40 feet spraying it in every direction. It is disturbing that every park is closed and the only place the elderly can walk to get some air is esplanade. The esplanade is filled day and night with young runners sweating without shirts running in parallel. There is absolutely no way to social distance,
For the life of me even pre virus, I never understood why bikes were allowed to speed on the south BPC esplanade with the entire West Side Highway a bike path.
It is incredibly dangerous for the children playing and elderly. Now with the pandemic and the only place where senior can walk seems to be the perfect time to stop this danger!
In every other shut down state due to the danger of runners shedding the virus, they have been stopped. It is so incredibly arrogant and selfish but there is no police or BPC enforcement.
Katherine M.
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Dear Friends,
While the playgrounds, dog parks, and sports fields are closed for now, Hudson River Park remains open to those who are looking for some space, greenery and open skies.
The Park is experiencing a record-early spring bloom including cherry blossoms, magnolias, tulips, daffodils and more. You can explore this vibrant display from home with our Bloom Guide and Spring Gallery. Photos of the Park’s plants unfurling in color have brought some brightness to our days during this sad and stressful time, and I hope they do the same for you.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and rest assured that Hudson River Park will be there to welcome you back soon.
Connie Fishman
, Executive Director
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To the editor:
I’m curious if the BPCA is going to implement any programs to support local small businesses.
For example, giving landlords a break in ground leases if savings are passed on to small business tenants as rent discounts? As a state agency I would hope they are at least considering steps that can be taken to support local businesses.
Maria M.
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A Bear Market for Apartments
Downtown Residential Real Estate on Life Support
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As business activity ground to a halt in March due to the pandemic coronavirus, the market for apartments in Lower Manhattan experienced something akin to a heart attack during the first quarter on this year, according to analyses from two real estate data firms.
A pair of reports from Platinum Properties, a brokerage firm headquartered in the Financial District, documents the carnage in Battery Park City and the Financial District. The first notes that the median price for condominiums sold in Battery Park City dropped from $1.515 million in the first quarter of 2019 to $1.005 million in the same period this year. That represents a 33.7 percent decline in 12 months, and a 14 percent decline just since the last quarter of 2019, when the median price was $1.168 million. To read more…
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Doing Good, Even When Not Doing Well
A Local Business Struggles to Survive, By Helping Those Less Fortunate
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In happier times: Karen Barwick (right) and her staff, at Tribeca’s Boomerang Toys
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Karen Barwick, the proprietress of Boomerang Toys in Tribeca, which has been a fixture in the lives of generations of Lower Manhattan kids, is leading a push to bring a smile to the faces of homeless children, who are quarantined in shelters, while also helping small businesses.
“We have teamed up with several other neighborhood toy stores that are struggling, because of being locked down,” she explains, “and partnered with Homeless Services United” (HSU) — a coalition of nearly sixty non-profit agencies serving homeless families. By browsing www.BoomerangToys.com, and clicking on the Donate button, users can purchase a toy that will be delivered to a shelter by the HSU’S existing distribution network, which already parcels out clothing and food. To read more…
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COVID-19 and your pets.
A Guide from the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare
how to care for your pet during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Updated Pandemic Statistics
City Releases Data about Local Rates of Infection
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Lower Manhattan’s eight zip codes are the site of 402 confirmed cases of coronavirus, up from 309 cases on April 2, which represents an increase of approximately 30 percent.
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A total of 402 residents of Lower Manhattan (among 973 who have been tested) are confirmed to have been infected by the pandemic coronavirus, according to statistics released by the City’s Department of Health (DOH). The current local mortality rate for COVID-19 is approximately 5.8 percent. To read more…
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WANTED:
Your Coronavirus story in one hundred words.
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Pandemic Protections
Federal Legislator Backs Proposal to Extend September 11 Safeguards to Coronavirus
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A screen shot from Monday evening’s online meeting of the Downtown Independent Democrats political club (to which all participants linked remotely, via the Internet, from their homes), during which Lower Manhattan community leader Justine Cuccia (upper right) proposed to United States Congressman (center) that federal programs aiding September 11 first responders and survivors be expanded to cover the pandemic coronavirus
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United States Congressman Jerry Nadler has endorsed a proposal by a Lower Manhattan community leader to expand the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) to cover illness and death from the pandemic coronavirus among the populations of first responders and survivors whose health was impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
An an online meeting of the Downtown Independent Democrats political club on Monday evening, Mr. Nadler was asked by Justine Cuccia, a co-founder of the grassroots organization, Democracy for Battery Park City, whether he would, “support an expansion of the Health Program and the VCF to cover COVID-19, because the survivor population are among those who are at heightened risk of complications from this disease?” To read more…
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Resilience, in the Original Sense of the Word
Facing Adversity, One Community Leader Tries to Lead By Example
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In the days following September 11, 2001, Bob Townley called the community together at the basketball court at the intersection of Canal Street and Avenue of the Americas.
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Bob Townley, the founder and executive director of Manhattan Youth, reflects, “I’ve been through this before — twice, actually.” He is referring to a pair of previous cataclysms that seemed to threaten the viability of the Lower Manhattan community he serves, as well as the organization he leads.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the inundation of Hurricane Sandy, 11 years later, both wrecked the neighborhood. And both raised questions about whether Manhattan Youth, which provides services to thousands of school children, families, and seniors, could remain viable. So the ongoing crisis related to the pandemic coronavirus is not without precedent for him.
“In the fall of 2001,” he recalls, “pieces of the World Trade Center were in a pool on Rector Place, where we had been giving toddlers swimming lessons a few days before. And when I finally got back into our Downtown Community Center in November, 2012, we had 20 feet of water in the basement. The entire bottom level, and a second story below the street, were both submerged.”
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New Amsterdam Market returns in virtual format, as a service to the growing community of purveyors, distributors, producers and other small businesses who are creating regional, sustainable, regenerative, healthful, and equitable food systems.
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A pair of peregrin falcons are back in Lower Manhattan, high above 55 Water Street. Click to watch a live camera as they care for their clutch of eggs that are expected to hatch in the coming weeks.
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Virtual Events Available to All
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Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field
National Museum of the American Indian
Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field is a pair of sequential photo essays created by Native photojournalists Russel Albert Daniels and Tailyr Irvine in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian. The work of both photographers springs from the same desires—to break down stereotypes of Native peoples and to portray stories that show the diversity and complexity of their contemporary lives.
While the installation of the first photo essay by Daniels — The Genízaro People of Abiquiú — is postponed due to coronavirus, the photo essay is online.
Youth Art Contest
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Celebrate Endangered Species Day (May 15) and the 50th anniversary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by participating in the Greater Atlantic Region’s Marine Endangered Species Art Contest.
Endangered and threatened species need our help. Students’ artwork will showcase their knowledge and commitment to protecting these animals. Throughout 2020, NOAA is celebrating 50 years of science, service, and stewardship. NOAA is a world-class forecasting and resource management agency with a reach that goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor. In the next 50 years, NOAA will advance innovative research and technology, answer tough scientific questions, explored the unexplored, inspire new approaches to conservation, and power the U.S. economy. Through April 24
Today through April 30
Mission to Remember
9/11 Memorial and Museum
This documentary series explores the shared commitment to the mission behind the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. From showing how we create new traditions of tribute, to demonstrating our unique conservation techniques, the short films go beyond the surface to immerse viewers in untold stories of honor and remembrance. Click here to view the series.
Today through April 30
The Stories They Tell
9/11 Memorial and Museum
Family members, survivors, first responders and recovery workers discuss the 9/11 history they are helping to preserve through the material they have shared with the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Click here.
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Today through April 30
Battery Dance TV
Battery Dance
Offerings include morning warmup/stretching/conditioning exercises, mid-day classes in contemporary dance with afro, ballet and jazz fusion elements, evening classes in varied ballroom styles, plus a daily short video at 4pm by dancers performing in their living rooms.
Today through April 30
Tourist in Your Own Town Videos
The New York Landmarks Conservancy
Now that most of us are staying home, you can take virtual tours of New York City.Visit Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, Alexander Hamilton’s home in Upper Manhattan, the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan, the site of the Battle of Brooklyn, the home of one of America’s first female photographers on Staten Island, and Louis Armstrong’s home in Queens. There are 61 sites in all. You’ll be amazed at the discoveries you will make.
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Role Reversal
Downtown Food Festival Supports Local Restaurants by Feeding Healthcare Workers
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The ever-popular Taste of Tribeca food festival has been cancelled for this year, but the organizers are rallying support to help the now-struggling restaurants that have contributed food for decades, by purchasing meals to donate to hospital workers.
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Starting today, up to 100 free meals will be arriving daily at local healthcare facilities, prepared by half a dozen Lower Manhattan restaurants, and paid for with contributions solicited by the Downtown parents who organize the Taste of Tribeca food festival.
For the past 25 years, that event has accepted food contributed by dozens of eateries, and sold these “tastes” at a street fair, to raise money for two beloved local public schools: P.S. 234 and P.S. 150. Earlier this month, however, mounting concerns about the pandemic coronavirus forced the first-ever cancellation of the event.
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Biking through traffic seven years ago at lunch hour in downtown Manhattan compared to the dearth of people and traffic after the Corona virus epidemic is a huge contrast. Footage is sped up, so although it may look a but scary, the ride was totally safe!
Thanks and be well! -Esther R.
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Where to Get Care
Lower Manhattan Health Resources for Residents with Concerns
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Government officials are asking that people with non-urgent health problems avoid showing up at hospital emergency rooms, which are already overburdened.
Instead, they ask that patients who have concerns consult with their personal physicians. Those in need of non-emergency medical help can also call (or walk into) one of the five Lower Manhattan urgent care clinics that remain open. As of Thursday afternoon, these are:
• CityMD Financial District (24 Broad Street). No appointment necessary. 646-647-1259.
• CityMD Fulton (138 Fulton Street). No appointment necessary. 212-271-4896.
• CityMD Tribeca (87 Chambers Street). No appointment necessary. 347-745-8321.
• NYU Langone at Trinity (111 Broadway). Appointment required. 212-263-9700.
• Mount Sinai Doctors (225 Greenwich Street, fifth floor). No appointment necessary. 212-298-2720.
That noted, anyone experiencing dangerous symptoms (such as trouble breathing or dangerous spikes in body temperature) is encouraged to go to a hospital emergency room.
Two Lower Manhattan healthcare providers are also offering Virtual Visits, in which patients can consult over the phone or video link with a physician or nurse practitioner.
To schedule such a session with NYU Langone, please browse: NYULangone.org, and click on Virtual Urgent Care.
To make an appointment with New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, please browse NYP.org, and click on Virtual Urgent Care.
Patients enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program are advised not to cancel or reschedule existing appointments. Clinic staff will be contacting you to make arrangements to convert these sessions into a tele-visits.
All program participants with prescriptions for their certified WTC-related conditions are strongly encouraged to sign up for Optum Home Delivery which allows for 90-day prescription fills and delivers directly to members by mail.
For more information, please call Optum at 855-640–0005, Option 2. For members who prefer to pick up prescriptions at retail pharmacies, the program is waiving early medication refill limits on 30-day prescription maintenance medications. Please call Optum at 855-640–0005, Option 3 for more information.
The World Trade Center Health Program is also covering limited COVID-19 testing for members with certain certified World Trade Center-related conditions that may put them at higher risk of illness from COVID-19. In addition to testing, treatment for COVID-19 is also covered, contingent on certain criteria being met, including that the member was eligible for COVID-19 testing, the treatment is authorized by the program, and the treatment is not experimental. Coverage of COVID-19 treatment costs requires approval by the program’s administrator, on a case-by-case basis.
Matthew Fenton
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Meditations in an Emergency
Our Hometown and the Myth of Eternal Return
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You tell yourself that you’ve seen this story before, and more than once: edifices falling; waters rising. And you reflect that the worst situations are not those that can’t get any worse. The worst situations are the ones that are going to get worse before they get better. So you hunker down.
You recall the Old Man deciding, a lifetime ago, that since you were too old for fairy tales, you were perhaps old enough for true confessions. To read more…
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Today In History April 17
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Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time
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1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date in 1387 as when the book’s pilgrimage to Canterbury begins.
1524 – Giovanni Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 – Sir Thomas Moore confined in London Tower
1704 – First successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1824 – Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54° 40’N
1865 – Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln’s assassination
1907 – Ellis Island 11,745 immigrants arrive
1932 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1951 – NY Yankee Mickey Mantle’s first game, he goes 1 for 4
1961 – 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Castro
1964 – First game at Shea Stadium, NY Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1964 – Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2,368 base)
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Sen Robert F Kennedy
1978 – 82nd Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:10:13
1983 – India entered space age launching SLV-3 rocket
1986 – IBM produces first megabit-chip
2013 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in New Zealand
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Births
1598 – Giovanni Riccioli, a Jesuit astronomer born in Ferrara, Italy studied philosophy and theology at the College of Parma. His studies included the pendulum as a means of measuring precise time and the study offalling bodies. One of the first to study the moon through the earliest telescopes, he was the one who gave names to the craters and valleys of the moon, most notably the Sea of Tranquility, the site of course on the first lunar landing in 1969. He dies in 1671 at the age of 73
1837 – J. P. Morgan, Hartford, Connecticut, American banker/CEO (US Steel Corporation)
Anniversaries
1929 – Baseball great Babe Ruth (34) marries 2nd wife Claire Merritt Hodgson (31)
Deaths
1790 – Benjamin Franklin, US Founding Father, inventor ambassador and writer (Poor Richards Almanac), dies at 84
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, rocker (Cream, Mountain), dies
1988 – Louise Nevelson, sculptor, dies of brain tumor at 88
1990 – Ralph David Abernathy, US civil rights leader, dies
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395 South End Avenue,
New York, NY 10280
212-912-1106
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No part of this document may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher © 2020
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