MILESTONES: January 12, birthdays for Jeff Bezos, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh

January 12, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jeff Bezos. Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP

Share this:

Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 12th day of the year.

On this day in 1954, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on a “slum clearance” project in Fort Greene that was being blocked by a lawsuit. Two Fort Greene corporations, the Boro Hall Corporation and Century Motor Sales were suing the City of New York on the grounds that the latter did not have the right, under Title I of the National Housing Act of 1949, to condemn properties in order to build or expand a private, tax-exempt hospital and university campus. The city agreed to hold off exercising the eminent domain until the court case was resolved. The affected area included portions of Flatbush Avenue Extension, Myrtle Avenue and Prince Street. Eventually, the development plans did move forward and today at that location sit the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University and The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

****

On this day in 1904, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported a division among Republicans over whom to nominate for that year’s presidential election. It was believed that President Theodore Roosevelt would be nominated and accepted. Roosevelt had become president upon McKinley’s assassination by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901. However, McKinley had loyal operatives who were pushing to nominate popular War Secretary William Howard Taft. The article pointed out that Roosevelt and Taft were friends; thus, Taft was expected to refuse the nomination. Taft did run again for president in 1908, but turned out to be a one-term president, as Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 presidential election. About a decade later, Taft later became the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

****

On this day in 1914, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the Roman Catholic Church’s authorities on moral behavior passed an edict that seriously undermined local ability to raise funds for charities. The Vatican passed a ban on the tango “and other modern dances” earlier that month, and authorities for the Diocese of New York banned social dancing. However, the ban caused the cancellation of several charitable benefit balls, including those of the Emerald Society, St. Francis College, the St. Francis Xavier Academy, the Catholic Club of Brooklyn and the Junior Auxiliary Dance for the Catholic Institute of the Blind. Brooklyn Diocesan Bishop Charles E. McDonnell and Judge George J. O’Keefe of Special Sessions, himself president of the Emerald Society, were intervening to make sure funds for orphans and other needs could be raised through “another form of entertainment.”

****

On this day in 1944, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page carried reports of U.S. fliers’ “greatest air battle” thus far of World War II. U.S. planes shot down a record number — more than 300 — of German planes. However, the United States also suffered heavy casualties. Another article reported that the Germans, in applying naval maneuvers to air warfare, were tricked into revealing to the Allies some key strategy weapons. And Allied forces delivered a one-two punch at the Greek port of Piraeus, which the Nazis were using as a key supply port.

****

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress KIRSTIE ALLEY, who was born in 1955; Amazon.com founder JEFF BEZOS, who was born in 1964; hockey player MARIAN HOSSA, who was born in 1979; talk show host RUSH LIMBAUGH, who was born in 1951; singer ZAYN MALIK, who was born in 1993; author DAVID MITCHELL, who was born in 1969; author HARUKI MURAKAMI, who was born in 1949; actor OLIVER PLATT, who was born in 1960; radio and TV personality HOWARD STERN, who was born in 1954; and Hall of Fame basketball player DOMINIQUE WILKINS, who was born in 1960.

****

TODAY IS NATIONAL HOT TEA DAY. The nearly 5,000-year-old beverage is enjoyed worldwide and has become a favorite drink among Americans. On any given day, more than half of the American population drinks tea. Hot Tea Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate the many reasons to drink tea: diverse flavors, rich culture and history, health benefits and soothing qualities.

****

THE FIRST WOMAN SENATOR WAS ELECTED ON THIS DAY IN 1932. Hattie W. Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, was born in 1878 and was appointed to the Senate in 1931 to fill out the term of her husband Sen. Thaddeus Caraway, who had died a few days earlier. In 1932, she won a special election to fill the remaining months of his term. Subsequently elected to two more terms, she served in the Senate until January 1945. She was an adept and tireless legislator (once introducing 43 bills on the same day) who worked for women’s rights (once co-sponsoring an equal rights amendment) and supported New Deal policies. Caraway died in 1950 in Virginia.

****

IRA HAMILTON HAYES WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1922. Hayes was one of six U.S. Marines who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi in 1945, following a U.S. assault on the Japanese stronghold. The event was immortalized by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal’s famous photo and later by a Marine War Memorial monument in Arlington, Virginia. Hayes was born on a Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona. He returned home after WWII a much-celebrated hero but was unable to cope with fame. He was found dead of “exposure to freezing weather and overconsumption of alcohol” on the Sacaton Indian Reservation in Arizona in 1955.

****

JACK LONDON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1876. The American author penned more than 50 books. He also wrote short stories, novels and travel stories of the sea and of the far north, many marked by brutal realism. His most widely known work is “The Call of the Wild,” the great dog story published in 1903. He died in 1916 in California.

****

THE TV SHOW “BATMAN” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1966. Based on the DC Comics characters created by Bob Kane in 1939, ABC’s crime-fighting show gained a place in Nielsen’s top 10 ratings in its first season. Adam West starred as millionaire Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter ego, Batman. Burt Ward costarred as Dick Grayson/Robin, the Boy Wonder. An assortment of villains guest-starred each week, including Cesar Romero as the Joker, Eartha Kitt and Julie Newmar as Catwoman, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. Other stars making memorable appearances included Liberace, Vincent Price, Milton Berle, Tallulah Bankhead and Ethel Merman. The series played up its comic-strip roots with innovative and sharply skewed camera angles, bright bold colors and wild graphics. Although the last telecast was in 1968, the show’s memorable theme song, composed by Neal Hefti, can be heard today with some 120 episodes in syndication.

****

THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “CAPOTE ON SCREEN: Breakfast at Tiffany’s” tonight at 7 p.m. In conjunction with the exhibition “Truman Capote’s Brooklyn: The Lost Photographs of David Attie,” BHS will explore Capote’s many inroads to the silver screen, starting with this iconic Hollywood adaptation of his whimsical novella “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Slate’s Kristen Meinzer and Newsday’s Rafer Guzman will introduce the film. This is the first in a four-part series. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.

****

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

****

“Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.” — author Jack London, who was born on this day in 1876