August 29, ‘Brooklyn Salesman A Suicide By Gas’

Brooklyn Today

August 29, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Actor Richard Gere celebrates his birthday today. Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP

Share this:

Good morning, Brooklyn. Today is the 241st day of the year.

****

ON THIS DAY in 1909, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Brooklyn Salesman A Suicide By Gas.” The article focused on a traveling salesman who committed suicide at a hotel in Manhattan.
“Despondent because business was dull, it is supposed, E.F. Meyers, a traveling salesman of 444 Putnam avenue, Brooklyn, committed suicide in the Ashland House,” the Eagle reported. “The porter climbed out on the fire escapes and into the room through the window. He found the salesman on his back on the floor with one end of a rubber tube tied around his neck, and the other end attached to a gas jet above his head.”

****

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include filmmaker Sir Richard Attenborough, who was born in 1923; “Risky Business” actress Rebecca De Mornay, who was born in 1962; Oscar Award-winner William Friedkin, who was born in 1939; “Chicago” actor Richard Gere, who was born in 1949; Brooklyn-born “M*A*S*H” actor Elliott Gould, who was born in 1938; television host Robin Leach, who was born in 1941; New York City-born U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, who was born in 1955; soccer player Pablo Mastroeni, who was born in 1976; U.S. Sen. John Sidney McCain III (R-Ariz.), who was born in 1936; Bronx-born “Glee” actress Lea Michele, who was born in 1986; choreographer Mark Morris, who was born in 1956; baseball player Roy Oswalt, who was born in 1977; former basketball player William Edward Perdue III, who was born in 1965; “Beauty and the Beast” actor Jay Ryan, who was born in 1981; and hockey player Pierre Turgeon, who was born in 1969.

****

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DAY Against Nuclear Tests. This recognized day, devoted by the United Nations, is intended to support public awareness and efforts for averting the devastating and harmful effects of nuclear weapons.

****

JOHN LOCKE was born on this day in 1632. Locke was an English philosopher who founded philosophical liberalism. His ideas influenced the American colonists and were enshrined in the Constitution. He died in 1704.

****

MICHAEL JACKSON was born on this day in 1958. Jackson, self-styled “King of Pop,” was a child star with his older brothers in The Jackson 5. He then launched a solo career as a singer and dancer/choreographer. His musical legacy was nearly overshadowed by his frequent plastic surgeries, eccentric behavior and legal difficulties, although he remained one of the most popular artists in the world. He died in 2009.

****

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