MILESTONES: October 24, birthdays for Drake, Wayne Rooney, Sen. Jeff Merkley

Brooklyn Today

October 24, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Drake. Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 299th day of the year.

On this day in 1929, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the stock market crash in a day of speculators’ panic. The headline for the day read that stocks were rallying. The subhead reported that the market was swinging upward again to check the panic. Ticker tape could not keep up with the sale that day of more than 10 million shares. Thomas J. Lamont, head of J.P. Morgan & Company, told reporters that the panic situation was more of “technical situation” than a “fundamental” one.

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On this day in 1936, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the citizens of Madrid were defiantly preparing for an “imminent” air raid by the Fascist army. The Associated Press enumerated incidents leading up to the warning, including the bombing of a Spanish ship bearing government personnel, by a Portuguese ship disguised as a German vessel. The next day’s headlines reported that the air raid did happen.

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On this day in 1946, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the United Nations Secretary General Trygve Lie’s demand that Spain’s military dictator Francisco Franco be ousted so that the Iberian nation could be restored to full democracy. The issue became explosive on the General Assembly’s floor because it was tied into the question of Russia’s veto power on the issue. The U.S. delegates opposed Communist Russia by demanding a vote on veto power. The U.N. was convening in Flushing, Queens, as the modern complex that is now its home would not begin construction for two more years. Lie, a Norwegian, was the U.N.’s first secretary general.

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On this day in 1950, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on President Harry S. Truman’s visit to the United Nations (still in Flushing until its midtown headquarters were completed in 1952). Speaking on the fifth anniversary of the U.N.’s founding, Truman urged a “fool-proof” disarmament plan that would prevent a third word war. Without naming Russia explicitly, he warned the U.S. and allies not to be “lulled” by “paper promises of peace and disarmament.” He emphasized that effective disarmament cannot be one-sided … The Eagle also ran the obituary of beloved pop singer Al Jolson, who died of a heart attack at age 64. Jolson, who was the son of a cantor, had flown to San Francisco, following a recent, strenuous three-week tour in Korea, to appear on “The Bing Crosby Show.” He died on the eve of that scheduled appearance.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Oscar Award-winning actor F. MURRAY ABRAHAM, who was born in 1939; singer and rapper DRAKE, who was born in 1986; Oscar Award-winning actor KEVIN KLINE, who was born in 1947; U.S. Sen. JEFF MERKLEY, who was born in 1956; former NAACP President KWEISI MFUME, who was born in 1948; singer MONICA, who was born in 1980; soccer player WAYNE ROONEY, who was born in 1985; Olympic gymnast KYLA ROSS, who was born in 1996; U.S. Sen. MIKE ROUNDS, who was born in 1954; Australian Prime Minister MALCOLM TURNBULL, who was born in 1954; Olympic ice dancer CHARLIE WHITE, who was born in 1987; and musician BILL WYMAN, who was born in 1936.

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THE FIRST BARREL JUMP OVER NIAGARA FALLS OCCURRED ON THIS DAY IN 1901. Niagara Falls attracted no end of daredevils through the centuries, but the first one to go over the falls and survive in any kind of contraption was the unlikely Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old former dance teacher who was down on her luck and hoping for fame and fortune. She accomplished the feat in a 160-pound barrel. No one repeated her stunt until 1911.

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MELVIN PURVIS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1903. He was America’s most famous FBI agent in the 1930s and an early protege of J. Edgar Hoover, the bureau’s influential director. In July 1934, Purvis and his fellow agents cornered John Dillinger outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater. The infamous bank robber was shot and killed, and the media hailed Purvis as “the Man Who Got Dillinger.” This angered the mercurial and jealous Hoover, who forced him from the FBI for good. Purvis died in South Carolina in 1960 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE STOCK MARKET PANIC. After several weeks of a downward trend in stock prices, investors began panic selling on Black Thursday, Oct. 24, 1929. More than 13 million shares were dumped. Desperate attempts to support the market brought a brief rally.