It Happened On Their Birthdates

One cool thing about Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s new Jewish News Archive is it lets you search what stories the newswire published on any given date. Like, for example, the birthdates of a few famous people and Tablet Magazine staffers. (You should also do this with yourself and your family.) The clear winners? Natalie Portman and the fact that there is nothing new under the sun.

• Barack Obama (August 4, 1961): “Prosecutor Will Demand Death Penalty for Eichmann When Trial Reopens”

• Hillary Clinton (October 26, 1947): “U.S. Experts Studying Palestine Partition Map for Boundary Recommendations on Monday”

• Shimon Peres (August 2, 1923): “Hooligans Attack Jews in Doz Park”

• Natalie Portman (June 9, 1981): “Israeli Planes Destroy Iraq Nuclear Reactor: Furor Spreads”

• Mark Zuckerberg (May 14, 1984): “Mondale, Hart Take Jackson to Task for His Refusal to Repudiate Support by Black Muslim Leader”

• Susan Sontag (January 16, 1933): “Warsaw Jew Killed on Way to Synagogue”

• Justin Bieber (March 1, 1994): “Clinton Administration Scrambles To Salvage Mideast Peace Process”

• Barbra Streisand (April 24, 1942): “Evacuation of All Jews from Coastal Areas in Holland Ordered by Nazis”

(Staffers)

• Liel Leibovitz (November 9, 1976): “Sartre Says Mideast Peace Can Be Achieved by Israel-Arab Dialogue”

• Matthew Fishbane (December 10, 1971): “Israel, Vatican Swapping Relics”

• Wayne Hoffman (December 8, 1970): “Israel Trying to Persuade U.S. to Use Veto Power in Security Council” (apparently this was once a novel thing)

• Margarita Korol (April 21, 1986): “Tension, Violence Mount in Gaza Strip”

• Abigail Miller (December 20, 1983): “Israeli Forces Continue to Pound PLO Forces in Lebanon”

• Alana Newhouse (February 26, 1976): “Manifesto Calls for Co-Existence Between Israel, Palestinian State”

• Gabriel Sanders (December 21, 1972): “Kahane Gets Israeli Citizenship”

• Len Small (August 28, 1972): “Foreigners Blamed for Rise in Israel Drug Use”

• Marc Tracy (January 3, 1985): “U.S. Sephardic Jews Urged to Revive Their Tradition Before They Assimilate”

Jewish News Archive [JTA]
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