March 18: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

ON THIS DAY IN 1864, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “It is not often that Ireland’s patron saint finds upon the 17th of March so bright a sky, so clear an atmosphere as blessed the earth on this year’s recurrence of his birthday. Generally the keen March winds howl through the streets, the dust blows in clouds, or else the dismal rain dampens the exterior of every loving Irishman, leaving enthusiasm only on the inside of his jacket. The celebration of the feast day has never been kept with greater spirit this side of the big pond.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1872, the Eagle said, “The Centennial year of Independence is, by act of Congress, to be celebrated by a display of the products and manufactures of our country at Philadelphia. Without underrating any branch of our industries, we venture to say that the soap department will be of the greatest importance, and that our townsmen, U.S. Higgins & Co., will do honor to the city of Brooklyn by their display of soaps. All over our vicinity, and increasingly extending through this country, are their soaps to be found in the grocers’ stores.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1890, the Eagle reported, “The base ball game yesterday between the Philadelphia and Brooklyn teams was attended by an unusually large crowd, which left the grounds after the close of the game in a rather disgusted state of mind. The game was characterized by loose playing and an absence of excitement and interest. The Brooklyn team was crippled by the absence of all three of their regular pitchers, who were afflicted with lame arms and otherwise disabled. Manager McGunnigle, who has not pitched for several years, filled the position and did fairly well, considering his lack of practice. The rest of the team were very lame from their playing at St. Augustine after being laid up all Winter, and part of the time they played a very yellow game of ball. The Phillies did some smashing work with the bat, landing three balls over the fence for home runs. Games like yesterday’s should be for practice and not exhibition contests. President Byrne said that he wanted to telegraph that his team could not come, but rather than disappoint the public the game was played.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Eagle reported, “CHICAGO — Baseball games in the American League will begin at 4 p.m. this year, one hour later than in former years, if B. B. Johnson, president of the league, has his way. Mr. Johnson thinks the later start will enable many persons to leave their offices for the day and that the attendance will be largely increased. Before leaving for St. Louis last night, Mr. Johnson took steps to put the 4 o’clock opening up to the club owners, but he expressed the opinion that the league would vote on the question and make the opening time uniform. ‘As I see it, the added hour of daylight under the new law will be a boon to baseball,’ said Johnson. ‘We can start our games an hour later by the watch and still have plenty of daylight left to finish. By beginning play at 4 o’clock this season we will be following the old style as far as the sun is concerned.’” 

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — A British Foreign Office spokesman said today that the question of Soviet access to Iranian oil resources could not be raised until Red Army troops leave that country. The spokesman, however, tacitly confirmed that the British are studying proposals for internationalization of control of Iran’s oil which would presumably break the present British monopoly of Iranian oil and give Russia access to a share of the production. The Russians were understood to be already engaged in a last-minute effort to persuade Tehran to give them a North Iran oil concession so that they can come before the United Nations Security Council March 25 with a statement that their troubles with Iran have been settled.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “New York, New York” co-writer John Kander, who was born in 1927; Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lapointe, who was born in 1948; “Child’s Play” star Brad Dourif, who was born in 1950; Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, who was born in Brooklyn in 1951; “Save the Best for Last” singer Vanessa L. Williams, who was born in 1963; Olympic gold medal-winning speed skater Bonnie Blair, who was born in 1964; Alice in Chains founder Jerry Cantrell, who was born in 1966; “Living Single” star Queen Latifah, who was born in 1970; “Younger” star Sutton Foster, who was born in 1975; football player and broadcaster Brian Griese, who was born in 1975; Maroon 5 founder Adam Levine, who was born in 1979;

Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Soni, who was born in 1987; “Emily in Paris” star Lily Collins, who was born in 1989; and “Big Time Rush” star Ciara Bravo, who was born in 1997.

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FOREVER IN THEIR DEBT: American Express was founded on this day in 1850 with the merger of companies owned by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Warren Butterfield. Originally an express mail business based in Buffalo, it introduced the American Express Traveler’s Cheque in 1891 and issued its first credit cards in 1958. Today the company has approximately 140 million cards in force, including more than 55 million in the U.S.

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THE GOAL STANDARD: The Stanley Cup was commissioned on this day in 1892. Awarded annually to the winner of the NHL playoffs, it was the brainchild of Lord Stanley of Preston, who served as the governor general of Canada from 1888 to 1893. Stanley, who was also known as the 16th Earl of Derby, died in 1908 and was one of the first inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

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

Quotable:

“My first-grade teacher told me I was the dumbest student she ever had. She did me a favor. If she told me I was very smart, I wouldn’t have tried to improve.” — businessman and philanthropist Ernest Gallo, who was born on this day in 1909.