MILESTONES: November 2, birthdays for Nelly, Kendall Schmidt, Shah Rukh Khan

Brooklyn Today

November 2, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Nelly. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 308th day of the year.

On this day in 1926, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that an association of New York City spiritualists went on record disdaining the late Harry Houdini for his love of show and publicity. They said Houdini, who had died on Nov. 1, “was himself a spiritualist medium — ‘perhaps the greatest medium of all time.’” His secrets were not even known to his personal assistant. The Eagle article quoted Conrad H. Hauser, head of the Spiritualist Church of Psychic Science, who said Houdini criticized spiritualists, perhaps fearing that a connection with them would hurt his stage career.

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On this day in 1914, with World War I already underway, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that Russia declared war on Turkey, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire became more imminent. This was just the latest in a centuries-old series of conflicts. The Eagle’s front page reported that 19 Russian transports and a British steamer were sunk in the Black Sea. A subhead indicated that evidence mounted that Turkey would imminently declare holy war. Twelve days later, the Ottoman Empire would declare a holy war against Russia, Britain, France, Serbia and Montenegro. Meanwhile, 300,000 Turkish troops menaced Egypt.

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On this day in 1920, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that voter turnout was already heavy by noon for the presidential election that would put Republican presidential nominee Warren G. Harding into the White House. His Democratic opponent was James M. Cox. The Eagle subhead stated that “Record City Vote Cast at 1 a minute.” Sixty percent were already reported before noon that day. Lines were long, although orderly. Meanwhile, Harding played a round of golf while voters decided his future.

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On this day in 1952, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson, the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, respectively, were battling their game plans on the eve of Election Day. Ike listed a 10-point progress plan, while Stevenson was calling out GOP tactics as “squalid,” and asserting that Sens. Robert A. Taft — from the famous Taft family — and Joseph McCarthy “ruled” the Republican Party. The Democrats also released a report saying that McCarthy had lied 18 times in a speech he made attacking Stevenson.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include political commentator PAT BUCHANAN, who was born in 1938; researcher and author SHERE HITE, who was born in 1942; Bollywood superstar actor SHAH RUKH KHAN, who was born in 1965; singer K.D. LANG, who was born in 1961; rapper Nelly, who was born on this day in 1974; actress STEFANIE POWERS, who was born in 1942; golfer DAVE STOCKTON, who was born in 1941; and Wisconsin Gov. SCOTT WALKER, who was born in 1967.

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DANIEL BOONE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1734. The American frontiersman, explorer and militia officer was captured at Blue Licks, Kentucky, in 1778 by Shawnee Indians under Chief Blackfish and was adopted by the chief and inducted into the tribe as “Big Turtle.” Boone escaped after five months and in 1781 was captured briefly by the British. He experienced a series of personal and financial disasters during his life but continued a rugged existence, hunting until his 80s. Boone died in 1820.

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WARREN G. HARDING WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1865. Harding was the 29th president of the U.S. and served from March 9, 1921 to Aug. 2, 1923. Although he won the presidency with the highest popular vote yet, he was later regarded as one of the nation’s worst presidents. His undistinguished administration was plagued by cronyism and corruption, the full extent of which wasn’t apparent until after his sudden death.

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BURT LANCASTER WAS BORN IN MANHATTAN ON THIS DAY IN 1913. The distinguished American actor began his career in show business as a circus acrobat. In a career spanning nearly 45 years, he appeared in nearly 80 films and won an Oscar. He died in 1994.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, THE BRIGHTON BEACH EXPRESS, exceeding its speed limit five times over (going 30 mph) while approaching the station near the Malbone Street tunnel in Brooklyn, jumped the tracks, killing 97 people and injuring 100. The supervisor-engineer, taking the place of a striking motorman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, was tried and acquitted of charges of negligence.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Book Talk: ‘Death: A Graveside Companion’” tonight at 6:30 p.m. In her latest work, author and co-founder of the Morbid Anatomy Museum Joanna Ebenstein curates an encyclopedic chronicle of rituals, beliefs and artistic traditions surrounding death from around the world and throughout time, from medieval Europe’s memento mori to Mexico’s Día de Muertos. Join BHS for a comprehensive view at the attitudes and cultural observations surrounding life’s “great equalizer.” 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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“America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration.” — President Warren G. Harding, who was born on this day in 1865