ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Mark Twain will open the California Building at the Centennial on the 15th.”
✰✰✰
ON THIS DAY IN 1889, the Eagle said, “The sixtieth Anniversary day of the Brooklyn Sunday School Union broke clear and cool, to the great delight of thousands of children. Anniversary day is often a day of showers, and usually the weather prophet of each family, for days before the parade, is consulted with almost feverish persistency both by old and young. Mamma and sister, who have worked for days to prepare dresses, are just as anxious about a fine day as the little girl who has watched them sewing or superintending the needlewomen. Last evening, all retired nervous and uncertain as to what the weather would be today, and many were easily awakened just before daylight by a loud peal of thunder, followed by heavy rain beating against window panes, and no doubt in several instances on to the carpets through open windows. If this heavy shower caused any disappointment, the latter quickly disappeared when the sun was seen rising over the housetops in a sky as cloudless as any that ever was seen on Children’s day.”
✰✰✰
ON THIS DAY IN 1897, the Eagle reported, “The contents of the cornerstone of the old St. John’s Church at Fort Hamilton, which has been razed to make room for a new and modern structure, are in possession of John F. Mayo. It was only after a very diligent search that the stone was found at all, and then it was discovered by the Italian workman after the churchmen interested had given up the hunt. The old cornerstone was snugly laid away in the rear foundation wall, three feet below the ground level. The church was organized Sept. 29, 1834, and the cornerstone was laid March 24 of the following year. The small leaden box was carefully sealed, and its contents are wonderfully well preserved, the books and papers being in excellent condition. A narrow strip of parchment, about two inches wide and ten inches long, contains the names of the bishop of the diocese at that time and the pastor and officers of the church.”
✰✰✰
ON THIS DAY IN 1907, the Eagle said, “Take a racket, a tennis ball, a fish-landing net, a stretch of clear ground and a friend. Give your friend the net, and try a forty-yard volley drive at him. Let him (or her) catch the drive with the net; exchange implements and let him (or her) drive at you. When you have done this, the charm of netball will not have to be explained, and you will be ready to look into the way in which it is played. The game has the excitement of real outdoor sport, but it is without the walking and waiting of golf, the violence of basketball or the endless repression of tennis, in which one must always consider the narrow limits put on the splendid driving power of the rackets. The joy of the long, free volley drives of netball is a great part of the game, and this leads to many interesting variations in the way of driving and netting contests and varied target competitions. In its various forms, the game is adapted to all ages and conditions of men, women and children.”
✰✰✰
ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — The sun was shining brightly over the Straits of Dover today after a night of clouds and rain. Light west and southwest winds freshened during the morning, and the sea became choppy. Visibility was limited to a few miles early but improved later.”
✰✰✰
ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “SEOUL, SATURDAY, JUNE 6 (UP) — United Nations and Communist delegates meet at Panmunjom today in a truce session that may mean the bloody three-year Korean War is coming to its end. Reports here, in Tokyo, in Washington and in United Nations headquarters in New York are that the two delegations are within a hair’s breadth of agreement on the main outstanding issue. That issue is the disposition of those Chinese Communists and North Korean prisoners, held by the UN command, who refuse to go home to Red-ruled territory. The delegates meet at 11 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday, Brooklyn time). There is strong hope that the meeting may lead to the signing of an armistice next week, after nearly two years of negotiations. There is only the reservation that hopes for peace have been high before and that the Communists, at the last hour, have thrown new complications in negotiations.”
✰✰✰
John Carlos. Photo: Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was born in 1941; USA Track & Field Hall of Famer John Carlos, who was born in 1945; musician and filmmaker Laurie Anderson, who was born in 1947; financial advisor and media personality Suze Orman, who was born in 1951; Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, who was born in 1952; former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who was born in 1953; “Matlock” star Nancy Stafford, who was born in 1954; jazz saxophonist Kenny G, who was born in 1956; singer-songwriter Brian McKnight, who was born in 1969; “Uncharted” star Mark Wahlberg, who was born in 1971; Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, who was born in 1979; and former N.Y. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who was born in 1997.
✰✰✰
Pete Wentz. Photo: Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP
NEW HEIGHTS: The first public demonstration of a hot-air balloon flight took place on this day in 1783. In Annonay, France, brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier succeeded in launching the 33-foot-diameter globe aerostatique they invented. The unmanned balloon rose an estimated 1,500 feet and traveled, wind-borne, about 7,500 feet before landing after a 10-minute flight — the first sustained flight of any object achieved by man.
GRIDIRON GREAT: Marion Motley was born on this day in 1920. A fullback and linebacker, he was one of the first two African-Americans to break the color barrier in professional football when he and teammate Bill Willis debuted in the same game in September 1946. After serving in the Navy from 1944-45, Motley played for the Cleveland Browns (1946-53) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1955), winning a championship in 1950. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968 and died in 1999.
✰✰✰
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY: Robert F. Kennedy was shot on this day in 1968. The Democratic New York senator had just addressed supporters in a ballroom in L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel after his victory in the California presidential primary. He was shot three times while taking a shortcut through the hotel’s kitchen and died 26 hours later. The younger brother of slain President John F. Kennedy was 42. His killer, Palestinian-Jordanian Sirhan Sirhan, remains in prison.
Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
✰✰✰
Quotable:
“There are honest journalists like there are honest politicians — they stay bought.”
— former White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers, who was born on this day in 1934
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
