February 19: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

ON THIS DAY IN 1874, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “Mr. Benjamin Disraeli has garnered the reward of the recent and unexpected success of the party which has once more secured ascendancy under his leadership. Yesterday he formally [accepted] the Premiership of the government of England, and is now about organizing his Cabinet. As part of the forms of state, the new Prime Minister yesterday waited on the Queen at Windsor Castle, ‘to advise with her Majesty’ on the men to whom she will be graciously pleased to entrust the government of the British Empire — after Mr. Disraeli and his associates have selected them. A review of the late Administration, under Mr. Gladstone, and of the prospects of the incoming Cabinet, under Mr. Disraeli’s leadership, will not be without interest, while it will go a long way toward confirming the belief that party conflicts in England turn upon men rather than upon principles of government.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “As the anniversary of the birth of Washington approaches, it is interesting to know that there is a man still living in this, the twentieth, century who gazed on the face of the father of his country, who died in the eighteenth century — 112 years ago, to be correct. The man who actually saw the countenance of George Washington is still in possession of his faculties and remembers well how that great man looked. He is not merely the only man alive today who ever saw the first President’s face, but he is the only man of the present generation who ever had that privilege. He is this generation’s nearest tie to the actual, physical Washington. For even this man, John Lane of the City of Washington, was not born until a quarter of a century after Washington died. Yet, as stated before, he viewed that patriarch’s face and is the only man of the present generation who ever had that privilege. The occurrence which makes this apparently impossible thing a fact was the opening of the tomb of Washington seventy-four years ago. At that time the body of the great man was moved from one tomb to another. A committee of Congress officiated at the transfer. The coffin was opened for one brief moment and the committee’s members took a last long look at the face of the man who had done the most toward establishing the nation, which was already growing great. The remains had been completely embalmed and the face remained as in life. After this one look the coffin was placed in its new sarcophagus, hermetically sealed and placed in its new abode, where it has rested undisturbed ever since.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “OSCO, ILL. (AP) — After half a century of picturesque performance in the show ring, A. G. Soderberg, famous breeder of Clydesdale horses, is going to retire. Since coming to the United States from Sweden in 1874, Soderberg has devoted his life to breeding and exhibiting the powerful Clydesdale. His face lights with pride over his record, which he believes no man in the country has equaled. His Green Meadow Reliance, five times senior reserve champion stallion, never has been beaten by a horse in the United States; and his Green Meadow Bonnie Lass is recognized as America’s finest Clydesdale mare. The stallion has won 66 championships. Soderberg exhibited 19 Clydesdales at the International Livestock Show in Chicago this year and, in addition to honors for his mare and stallion, won five senior reserve grand championships, five first prizes, 13 seconds, five thirds, seven fourths and one fifth. With one stallion, Soderberg started his career as a showman at Davenport, Iowa, in 1875. The following year he exhibited two horses at the World’s Fair in Philadelphia, winning three championships. Fifty years later, with 18 horses, he went to the Sesqui-Centennial and won identically the same championships and a host of other honors. He has exhibited at every World’s Fair since 1876.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY — Mayor William O’Dwyer, submitting an eight-point program to allow New York City to raise extra revenues needed for his administration’s budget problems, today asked the Legislature for authority which would permit the city to levy $78,000,000 more in added taxes during each of the next four years. In a letter to the legislative leaders the Mayor outlined eight proposals, including a $30,000,000 payroll tax, to yield an estimated total of $102,000,000 annually, but emphasized final authority should be left to the City Council to choose whatever taxes it deems sufficient to make up the city’s need for $78,000,000 required to meet new or accrued expenses confronting the municipality. Other proposals the Mayor outlined included an additional 5 percent tax on pari-mutuel racetrack betting, designed to yield $10,000,000 annually to the city, and a series of levies on telephone, electric, telegraph, steam and gas bills; amusements, hotel rooms and luxury items, all at the rate of 5 percent. The proposed payroll tax would be at the rate of 1/2 of 1 percent on payrolls and would be paid by employers in the city. The Mayor told the legislative leaders it was not an easy task for him to request authority for the imposition of the additional taxes. Acknowledging these would be burdensome on the inhabitants of the city, the Mayor said, however, the burden would be outweighed by the ‘advantages of good governmental services and conditions promoting safety, decent living and sound business enterprise in the largest city of the nation.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Big-shot gamblers reportedly involved in a nationwide college basketball fixing ring took cover today as New York’s latest hoop bribery scandal, which erupted with the arrest of four players, a former star and an ex-convict, threatened to snowball into gigantic proportions. The break in the six-week-old inquiry that netted the players, three of whom live in Brooklyn, came on information given Manhattan District Attorney Frank S. Hogan by one of the stars involved — handsome, stocky Eddie Gard, captain of last year’s Long Island University quintet. Several subpoenas, returnable Wednesday in Manhattan, have been issued to other college basketball players, it was learned. The number of those served and the names of the players was a closely guarded secret. Meanwhile, prosecutors, weary from the weekend grilling of those seized, rested today and it could not be determined when the Manhattan grand jury would meet to hear evidence in the case, or when indictments might be handed down. At the same time Brooklyn District Attorney Miles F. McDonald could not be reached to confirm reports that his office quizzed L.I.U. players on this year’s team. His rackets-smashing assistant, Julius Helfand, refused to comment.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Smokey Robinson, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), who was born in 1948; “The Joy Luck Club” author Amy Tan, who was born in 1952; “The Newsroom” star Jeff Daniels, who was born in 1955; “Dynasty” star Kathleen Beller, who was born in 1956; 1989 World Series MVP Dave Stewart, who was born in 1957; “Bridget Jones’s Diary” author Helen Fielding, who was born in 1958; NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was born in 1959; “Kiss From a Rose” singer Seal, who was born in 1963; Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, who was born in 1965; Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro, who was born in 1967; “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney, who was born in 1971; actress and singer Haylie Duff, who was born in 1985; “Gotham” star David Mazouz, who was born in

2001; and “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown, who was born in 2004.

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A STAR IS BORN: Nicolaus Copernicus was born on this day in 1473. The Polish astronomer and priest revolutionized scientific thought with what came to be called the Copernican theory, which put the sun instead of the earth at the center of our planetary system. He died in East Prussia in 1543.

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A PERSON OF NOTE: Saul Chaplin was born on this day in 1912. The Brooklyn native attended New York University School of Commerce and played in dance bands in the 1930s. He made his mark in Hollywood as a composer, arranger and producer for such films as “Cover Girl” (1944), “On the Town” (1949), “An American in Paris” (1951), “Kiss Me Kate” (1953), “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954), “West Side Story” (1961) and “The Sound of Music” (1965), winning three Academy Awards. He died in 1997.

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

Quotable

“We regard it as a certainty that the earth, enclosed between poles, is bounded by a spherical surface.” — astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born on this day in 1473.