ON THIS DAY IN 1889, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “OYSTER BAY — The Seawanhaka Yacht Club will rendezvous in Oyster Bay harbor on Monday and Tuesday. During its stay in the harbor the squadron will be the guests of the Oyster Bay Yacht Club. The club and their guests have been invited to participate in the following entertainments: Tuesday — 12 o’clock, breakfast at the country seat of Dr. and Mrs. J. West Roosevelt. At 9 o’clock P.M., ball at the residence of Captain F.T. Underhill. July 4 — 5 p.m., polo and tennis at the grounds of the Oyster Bay Polo-Tennis Club. At 8:30 o’clock P.M., fireworks, for which the club has appropriated $100, at the residence of Mr. Theodore Roosevelt. July 5 — 10 A.M., tennis at the residence of Captain Walter C. Tuckerman, followed by a luncheon. July 6 — 1 P.M., lunch at the residence of Mr. James K. Gracie. At 5 P.M., polo and tennis at the grounds of the Oyster Bay Polo-Tennis Club. On Monday morning the race for the forty foot class of boats for a $200 cup, given by the club, will take place. The regular annual regatta of the Oyster Bay Yacht Club will be sailed over the club course on Thursday, July 4.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1922, Eagle columnist Henry Suydam said, “WASHINGTON — Senator Reed Smoot of Utah (age 60) has come out against fancy structures for Government office buildings. Mr. Smoot thinks that Washington is already too full of Greek temples, concealing behind their classic facades the work-a-day routine of Federal functioning. It is Mr. Smoot’s notion that an office building ought to look like what it is and not like something else. The Greek style of architecture is all right, in other words, for a structure like the Lincoln Memorial, but not for a gang of stenographers engaged in sending out income-tax blanks. This bright notion of Mr. Smoot, who is otherwise usually sound and sensible, would have the effect, if put into operation, of ruining the distinctive character of Washington. The Greek-colonial treatment has become almost a tradition here, and steel-and-concrete skyscrapers would commit an ineradicable outrage upon the beauty of this place.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Eagle said, “Since George Washington was the pride and hope of America in 1776, one hundred and fifty summers have come and gone. Today our pride and hope is Calvin Coolidge. The eternal fitness of things demanded that these two faces should appear on the Sesquicentennial half-dollar. To be sure no living President of the past ever got onto a coin, but not one of them ever celebrated a Sesquicentennial of national prosperity.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “Thomas E. Dewey, former Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District, was picked yesterday by Governor Lehman as special prosecutor of rackets and vice in Manhattan. Dewey will be given an absolutely free hand, the Governor said after a two-hour conference with the four outstanding Republican lawyers who had been his first choices. If he so desires, Dewey can set up an entirely separate staff, pick his own assistants and attack organized vice and racketeering in any way that he believes effective, the Governor said. Although he has not yet communicated with the young former Federal attorney, he is sure that he will serve, and not decline as did the other four, the Governor added. ‘I don’t believe these men would have recommended him unless they were sure he would accept the appointment,’ Mr. Lehman explained. Dewey is to be appointed by District Attorney Dodge as a special assistant to conduct the proceedings before the extraordinary term of the New York County Grand Jury, which the Governor on Friday directed to be convened under Supreme Court Justice Philip J. McCook.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “Floyd Bennett Field climaxed a two-day celebration of the Naval and Marine Reserve’s first anniversary with an air show yesterday that included mock enemy attacks, a demonstration of the new experimental navy fighter, the ‘Flying Pancake,’ and a plane accident. The plane accident, although startling to the 10,000 spectators who watched the F6F Hellcat flip over at the end of the runway, was not serious. The pilot, Ensign Donald E. Tatum, 23, of St. Mark’s Ave., Rockaway Beach, suffered only leg bruises as his engine failed while he was taking off in a mock attack. The plane fell after it reached 15 feet in the air and hit the end of the runway where it overturned. The raid was one of the last events of the show, which had been postponed two hours because of poor flying weather. While the ceiling hovered about 350 feet, and even hit a low of 50 feet in the early afternoon, navy and maritime fliers put on a ground show. Scheduled to start about 2 p.m., the light fog prevented planes from taking off until 4 p.m. when the huge amphibian Catalina, PBY5A, made a dramatic jet-assisted take-off, leaving a trail of smoke along the runway.”
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David Alan Grier. Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Too Close for Comfort” star Nancy Dussault, who was born in 1936; N.Y. Mets World Series hero Ron Swoboda, who was born in 1944; “Married … With Children” star David Garrison, who was born in 1952; “In Living Color” star David Alan Grier, who was born in 1956; “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” star Vincent D’Onofrio, who
Ron Swoboda. Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP
was born in Brooklyn in 1959; guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen, who was born in 1963; International Boxing Hall of Famer Mike Tyson, who was born in Brooklyn in 1966; “Along Came a Spider” star Monica Potter, who was born in 1971; “Castle Rock” star Lizzy Caplan, who was born in 1982; “American Idol” champion Fantasia Barrino, who was born in 1984; and Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps, who was born in 1985.
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LEADING LADY:Lena Horne was born on this day in 1917. The Bedford-Stuyvesant native began singing with the chorus line at the Cotton Club in Harlem at age 16. A career on Broadway and in Hollywood followed in rapid succession and she soon became the symbol for African-American actors and singers trying to break the color barrier. She found success with both black and white audiences, although she did face her share of racial prejudice. She died in 2010. A forever stamp
Lizzy Caplan. Photo: Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP
depicting her was issued in 2018.
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HERE AND NOW: The National Organization for Women was founded in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1966 by attendees of the Third National Conference on the Commission on the Status of Women. NOW’s purpose is to take action to bring women into full partnership in the mainstream of American society, exercising all privileges and responsibilities in equal partnership with men.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“It’s so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.” — singer Lena Horne, who was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1917.
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.
