On this day in 1864, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported: “Cricket. The Grand Match at Bedford, N.Y., against Philadelphia, commenced this morning, drawing a much larger crowd than last week, and considerable interest in the match. Details to be given tomorrow.”
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On this day in 1885, The Eagle reported: “Professor Riley, an entomologist with the Department of Agriculture, has made such a study of locusts, or periodical cicadas as he prefers to call them, that he has not only classified the 13-year and 17-year species, but has divided these two species into 22 different populations. Thus, while it takes the same amount of time for the 17-year species to reappear, the different populations have different years. These populations vary greatly in size and inhabit each of them. The locusts this year have attracted unusual attention on account of the simultaneous appearance of two large populations, the 22nd population, the largest 17-year population on record, and the 7th population, the 13-year population.”
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On this day in 1892, the Eagle newspaper reported, “Currently, [Grover] Cleveland, in its minority position in the National Democratic Convention, can do more than delay the proceedings of the convention for a little while. The opponents are being treated with great sympathy. The resources of patience and goodwill for them will obviously be utilized by the men of Cleveland to a point where patience is no longer a virtue. At the end of the convention, no one who has taken part in it will have any excuse for refusing to accept its results or to work for its candidate.”
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On this day in 1912, The Eagle reported: “Chicago, Illinois. Presidential candidate – William H. Taft of Ohio. Vice Presidential candidate – James S. Sherman of New York – if he wishes. Platform – conservative appeal to the people. Such is the platform of the Taft campaign, which has a firm grip on the situation. The leaders intend to pass it to-day. The Roosevelt campaign has agreed not to present any obstacle to the execution of its plan after the permanent list has been adopted, and so the convention will close tonight.”
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On this day in 1944, The Eagle reported: “PEARL HARBOR (UP) — Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced today that the U.S. Fifth Fleet has won one of the greatest victories of the war by defeating the Japanese fleet off the coast of the Philippines, in a naval action that sunk or damaged 14 of the enemy’s main battleships. The long-anticipated showdown with the Japanese fleet began Monday afternoon in the waters between the Philippines and the new U.S. military base in the Mariana Islands. According to the latest information, U.S. carrier-based aircraft from Admiral Raymond A. Spruance’s fleet have inflicted the following damage on the Japanese: One carrier, believed to be the 17,000-ton Buiakaku, was hit by three 1,000-pound bombs; one Jun’yo-class carrier was sunk; one Jun’yo-class carrier was badly damaged and burned heavily. “One Zuidong or Daito class light aircraft carrier was hit by at least one bomb. One Honsho class battleship was damaged. One cruiser was damaged. Three destroyers were hit, one of which is believed to have been sunk. Three tankers were sunk, and two more were heavily damaged and on fire.”
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On this day in 1948, The Eagle reported: “PORTLAND, Maine (UP) — Representative Margaret Chase Smith was confirmed today as the first Republican woman senator in the United States, having won the nomination yesterday over three male candidates in the state’s primary election. With 602 of Maine’s 620 districts counted, Mrs. Smith received 63,941 votes, Governor Horace A. Hildreth 31,228, former Governor Sumner Sewall 21,916 and the Rev. Albion P. Beverage 6,684. Messrs. Hildreth and Sewall conceded victory just after midnight, when the 49-year-old congressman led his nearest opponent by a margin of 2 to 1. The Republican nomination is considered equivalent to an election in Maine, where there is only slight Democratic opposition. The senate seat for which Mrs. Smith won the nomination was the one vacated by Senator Wallace H. White Jr.
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On this day in 1950, the Eagle reported, “Ronald Reagan and actress Nancy Davis are on a roll. The two met when she was running for office at the Screen Actors Guild, where Reagan is president. If the two were to marry, would that be considered a union marriage?”
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On this day in 1950, the Eagle reported, “The Giants announced the signing of 19-year-old black outfielder Willie Mays. Mays was assigned to the Giants’ Trenton farm club of the Class B Interstate League. Described by the Giants’ front office as a ‘long-ball hitter,’ he stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. Mays, who graduated from high school yesterday, played a year and a half for the Birmingham Black Barons.”
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Meryl Streep
Evan Agostini/InVision/AP
Cyndi Lauper
Chris Pizzello/AP
Famous people born on this day include singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson (born 1936), journalist and author Brit Hume (born 1943), Turtles co-founder Howard Kaylan (born 1947), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Todd Rundgren (born 1948), Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep (born 1949), The Bionic Woman star Lindsay Wagner (born 1949), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (born 1949), True Colors singer Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), Star Trek: Voyager star Tim Russ (born 1956), and Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell (born 1958). Basketball Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler was born in 1962, “Judging Amy” star Amy Brenneman was born in 1964, “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown was born in 1964, “24” star Mary Lynn Rajskub was born in 1971, and “Scrubs” star Donald Faison was born in 1974.
Clyde Drexler
Rich Schultz/AP
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Law of the Nation: The Department of Justice was established by an Act of Congress on this day in 1870. It is headed by the Attorney General, who was a member of the President’s Cabinet before 1870 but was not the head of a department.
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All the World’s a Stage: Joseph Papp was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1921. At the helm of the New York Public Theater, Papp produced a wide range of productions, from classics to the latest American playwrights. His works include Hair, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and A Chorus Line. Papp won three Pulitzer Prizes, six New York Film Critics Circle Awards and 28 Tony Awards. He died in 1991.
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Special thanks to Chase’s Calendar of Events and the Brooklyn Public Library.
Quote:
“You can’t stay with something for long. You have to keep producing results.”
— Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell was born on this day in 1903.
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Brooklyn, New York City’s most populous borough, is home to approximately 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were a city on its own, it would be the fourth largest in the United States. In recent years, Brooklyn has become synonymous with “cool and hip,” but to the people who were born here, raised their families here, and have improved their community over the years, Brooklyn has never been “uncool.”
