MILESTONES: March 21, birthdays for Adrian Peterson, Scott Eastwood, Ronaldinho

Brooklyn Today

March 21, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Adrian Peterson. AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 80th day of the year.

On this day in 1904, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on NYC Comptroller Edward M. Grout’s insistence that the Brooklyn and Williamsburg and bridges not be linked, claiming doing so would be unnecessary. This declaration placed Grout at odds with Mayor George McClellan, the Bridge Department and a coalition of citizens who demanded a link between the two bridges. Bridge Department’s Chief Engineer Othniel Foster Nichols said, “It is Mr. Grout against the people of Brooklyn.” He explained that the loop would alleviate congestion because it would give the L a way to turn around and do its next run without delay.

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On this day in 1904, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the death of former New York City Mayor William R. Grace, who died after a long illness. Grace had been mayor before the Great Consolidation six years prior to his death and was also prominent in Brooklyn. The obituary, which described in detail Grace’s last hours, called his death “the end of a lifetime filled with business enterprise and public usefulness.”

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On this day in 1911, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported on the lawsuit between Dr. Booker T. Washington and one Henry L. Ulrich of Manhattan, who was accused of brutally assaulting Washington. Washington’s injuries were still prominent, and the District Attorney’s Office was inclined to believe Washington’s side of the story. Washington was the most well-known civil rights leader of his time and founder of the Tuskegee Institute. Ulrich had accused him of calling Ulrich’s wife “sweetheart” and peeping through the keyhole. Washington had given a full account of his day that led to the incident, and his schedule had brought him to Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. Washington said, “As I am a man of honor, I didn’t speak to any woman.”

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On this day in 1917, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that President Woodrow Wilson, at the strong urging of his Cabinet, called Congress to meet in an April 2 special session to declare war on Germany. They agreed that a state of war already existed between Germany and the United States, which at that point had not entered World War I. The most recent provocation had been the sinking of three American ships by German submarines. The Eagle also published a list of developments as a result of Wilson’s call, including the allocation of funds, the survey of available men for the draft as being 21 million and the allocation of a $1 billion loan to the Allies. The U.S. would formally enter the war on April 6.

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On this day in 1928, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that President Calvin Coolidge placed around the neck of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, the United States’ highest honor: the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lindbergh was praised for his courage and great skill in making the solo trans-Atlantic flight between New York and Paris the previous year.

On that same front page, the Eagle reported that St. John’s College, which was at the time leasing space on Court Street between Joralemon and Schermerhorn streets, announced it was building a new hew home for its law school, on land at the corner of Schermerhorn Street and Boerum Place. The cost, including the land, was estimated at $1 million.

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On this day in 1948, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page ran a report from Jerusalem that the Jews would establish their own Zionist state in Palestine and would do so by military means. David Ben-Gurion, who was at the time chairman of the Jewish Agency, would become the primary founder of the State of Israel and its first prime minister. The Eagle story featured a rebuttal from Palestine’s Arab community that they would seek nothing less than independence for their people. Later in the story, Ben Gurion said that he wanted to be on peaceful terms with the Arabs.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Olympic cross-country skier MARIT BJORGEN, who was born in 1980; actor MATTHEW BRODERICK, who was born in 1962; theater director PETER BROOK, who was born in 1925; actor TIMOTHY DALTON, who was born in 1946; actor SCOTT EASTWOOD, who was born in 1986; dancer KEVIN FEDERLINE, who was born in 1978; actress and TV personality ROSIE O’DONNELL, who was born in 1962; actor and director GARY OLDMAN, who was born in 1958; football player ADRIAN PETERSON, who was born in 1985; and soccer player RONALDINHO, who was born in 1980.

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THE SELMA CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH TOOK PLACE ON THIS DAY IN 1965. More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began a four-day march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery to demand federal protection of voting rights. There were violent attempts by local police, using fire hoses and dogs, to suppress the march. A march two weeks before on March 7 was called “Bloody Sunday” because of the use of nightsticks, chains and electric cattle prods against the marchers by the police.

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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1685. The German organist and composer was one of the most influential composers in musical history. Bach died in Germany in 1750.

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TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. Initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 to be observed annually on March 21, the anniversary of the killing of 69 African demonstrators at Sharpeville, South Africa, in 1960, as a day to remember “the victims of Sharpeville and those countless others in different parts of the world who have fallen victim to racial injustice” and to promote efforts to eradicate racial discrimination worldwide.

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MODEST MUSSORGSKY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1839. The Russian romantic composer served as a military officer and later a civil servant. He joined The Five, a group of other amateur Russian composers passionate about creating a genre of Russian music free from European musical conventions. His most famous works are “Boris Gudonov” and “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Mussorgsky died in 1881 in Russia.

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SOLOMON BURKE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1940. The American musician and singer is widely considered to be one of the greatest soul singers of all time. Burke’s hits include 1962’s “Cry to Me” and 1964’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” He was a flamboyant showman, performing from a throne in keeping with his self-styled King of Rock and Soul persona. Burke’s personal life was outsized as well: he weighed more than 400 pounds at the time of his death and he fathered at least 21 children. He died at an airport in Amsterdam in 2010.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Freedom of Expression: The Never-Ending Fight” tonight at 6:30 p.m. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo wrote, “Freedom of expression is … the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom.” Two titans in this fight, Ira Glasser, head of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1978 to 2001, and Norman Siegel, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union from 1985 to 2000, reflect on the history and ongoing struggle and reminisce about their shared Brooklyn roots. The event will be moderated by Jarrett Murphy, executive editor and publisher of City Limits. “Freedom of Expression” is presented in partnership with the Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative. 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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“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”

— composer Modest Mussorgsky,who was born on this day in 1839