MILESTONES: October 30, birthdays for Matthew Morrison, Andrea Mitchell, Henry Winkler

Brooklyn Today

October 30, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Matthew Morrison. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 305th day of the year.

On this day in 1948, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the “mighty cheers” that President Harry S. Truman received during the eastern campaign of his presidential election campaign. Truman was enthusiastically received at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), but when the police and other security details tried to close off the street leading to the venue, subscribers to the lecture series were undeterred, determined to arrive at their own event promptly.

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On this day in 1918, several Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page stories reported on Allied advances during the closing days of World War I. Foremost among them was that the Czech Republic won its independence and was setting up a government. Germany, with its Kaiser removed from power, was working on armistice terms, and was being ordered to give up the Alsace Lorraine region, which it had acquired in 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War. The armistice terms also called for Germany to relinquish her warships and submarines to Allied forces. Meanwhile, Italian forces — fighting on the Allied side — had advanced into the Piave, causing neighboring Austrian forces to retreat. American forces were standing by, ready to assist Italy.

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On this day in 1929, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the stock market experienced a gain, with the lead sentence declaring — prematurely — that the worst scare had come to an end. Still, stock exchanges around the country announced that they would close. It was the consequences of this sellout — a shrinking economy, losses in employment and a drought — that would cause the worst period of impoverishment until President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 election and the implementation of New Deal measures such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which still does not protect higher-risk investments.

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On this day in 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on bitter fights into the New York gubernatorial and U.S. Congressional election races, with Averell Harriman as the Democratic nominee and U.S. Sen. Irving M. Ives as his Republican opponent. Harriman, who won that election, charged that Ives was siphoning off public funds for partisan interests. Ives was promising a reduction in the state income tax. Meanwhile, Congressional races were stewing in the wake of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s comment about Democrats’ “red herring” talk. Election Day was three days away, on Nov. 2. The Senate and House both went to a Democratic majority in that election; whereas both had been Republican majorities in the previous (83rd) Congress.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include author ROBERT A. CARO, who was born in 1935; actor HARRY HAMLIN, who was born in 1951; Olympic gymnast NASTIA LIUKIN, who was born in 1989; soccer coach and former player DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA, who was born in 1960; news correspondent ANDREA MITCHELL, who was born in 1946; actor MATTHEW MORRISON, who was born in 1978; actor KEVIN POLLAK, who was born in 1957; singer GRACE SLICK, who was born in 1939; actor CHARLES MARTIN SMITH, who was born in 1953; former football coach DICK VERMEIL, who was born in 1936; and actor HENRY WINKLER, who was born in 1945.

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THE “WAR OF THE WORLDS” WAS BROADCAST ON THIS DAY in 1938 as part of a series of radio dramas based on famous novels. Orson Welles with the Mercury Players produced H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds,” and near panic resulted when listeners believed the simulated news bulletins, which described a Martian invasion of New Jersey, to be real.

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TONIGHT IS DEVIL’S NIGHT. Formerly a “Mischief Night” on the evening before Halloween and an occasion for harmless pranks, it is chiefly observed by children. However, in some areas of the U.S., the destruction of property and endangering of lives has led to the imposition of dusk-to-dawn curfews during the last two or three days in October.

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EZRA POUND WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1885. The Modernist poet, editor and critic’s success as a poet began in 1909 with the publication of “Personae.” In 1912, Pound initiated the Imagist movement; he edited its first anthology in 1914 and collaborated with James Joyce and T.S. Eliot. He moved to Italy in 1924 and as a result of his pro-Fascist radio broadcasts from Italy, Pound was indicted for treason July 26, 1943, and arrested near Genoa by the U.S. Army. He was confined to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C., from 1946 to 1958. Considered mentally unable to stand trial, he was never tried for treason. Pound died in Italy in 1972.

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“BULL” HALSEY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1882. The New Jersey-born American admiral and fleet commander played a leading role in the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific naval battles of World War II. In April 1942, aircraft carriers under his command ferried Jimmy Doolittle’s B-25s to within several hundred miles of Japan’s coast. From that location, the aircraft were launched from the decks of the carriers for a raid on Tokyo. In October 1942, as commander of all the South Pacific area, Halsey led naval forces in the defeat of Japan at Guadalcanal, and in November 1943 he directed the capture of Bougainville, both in the Solomon Islands. He supported the landings in the Philippines in June 1944, and in the naval battle of Leyte Gulf, he assisted in an overwhelming defeat of the Japanese. In 1945, Japan’s final instrument of surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay aboard Halsey’s flagship, the USS Missouri. He died in New York in 1959.

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TODAY IS CHECKLISTS DAY. It is a day in recognition of the development of the first well-known checklist, following the crash of a B-17 Flying Fortress prototype caused by pilot error on this date in 1935.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Living Gig to Gig in NYC’s Freelance Economy” tonight at 6:30 p.m. NYC’s workforce is increasingly populated by freelancers, working from contract to contract for a variety of companies. As the “gig economy” overtakes more traditional career structures, dramatic changes could be on the horizon. Sara Horowitz, executive director and founder of the Freelancers Union, will hold a lively discussion about the gig economy’s impact on New York City and the safety nets we need to support the 21st-century workforce. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

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

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“Literature is news that stays news.” — Ezra Pound, who was born on this day in 1885