MILESTONES: March 28, birthdays for Lady Gaga, Reba McEntire, Derek Carr

Brooklyn Today

March 28, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Lady Gaga. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 87th day of the year.

On this day in 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Dr. S.S. Goldwater, commissioner of public health, yesterday announced that ‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon, who, the commissioner said, was ‘the greatest typhoid germ carrier in the country,’ had been located at Corona, L.I., and this afternoon quarantined on North Brothers Island … Her case is a remarkable one in medical history; although not ill herself, she carries the typhoid infection with her.”

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On this day in 1886, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle printed a dispatch from Wilcox, Arizona, which read, “Gen. Crook, accompanied by his personal staff, Lieutenant Maus’ command and Apache scouts, today met Geronimo and all the Chiricahuas 25 miles southeast of San Bernardino Springs, Sonora, Mexico. Gen. Crook would have no argument with Geronimo, but told him he must decide at once on unconditional surrender or fight to the death. Geronimo begged for the lives of himself and the hostiles. His band offer to surrender unconditionally whether Geronimo does or not.”

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On this day in 1898, the Eagle reported that President William McKinley had sent to Congress the findings of the board that had been appointed to investigate the sinking of the USS Maine. “Except on the occasion of the inauguration of a president, no such crowds as surged through the corridors and stormed the galleries for admission have been seen at the Capitol in a quarter of a century, such was public interest” in learning details of “the disaster which sent one of Uncle Sam’s noblest warships to the bottom of Havana harbor and sacrificed the lives of 260 brave American sailors.”

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On this day in 1910, the Eagle published a story about the death of Brooklyn resident Helen Mitchell. “Mrs. Mitchell bought several pineapples on March 15 and took them home for dinner,” the story read. “As she was peeling one of them, she felt a sharp pain, and looking down discovered that one of the pineapple scales had pricked the index finger of her right hand … She put off going to a physician, but finally her hand became so swollen that she became alarmed” and sought medical help. “Just what was the actual cause of her death is a mystery. Many theories have been advanced, one of which was that a tarantula might have bitten the fruit and permeated it with his deadly poison. It is the first time, so far known to medical annals, when a woman’s death was caused by a pineapple.”

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On this day in 1927, the Eagle reported, “A fight to the finish to vindicate his right to teach evolution was promised today by Charles A. Wagner, a 25-year-old poet who was dismissed last week as a substitute teacher at Berriman Junior High School, 829 Belmont Ave.” William F. Kurz, the principal of the school, said, “The syllabus of the Board of Education provides for instruction in the Darwinian theories in the second or third years of senior high school, but not in the 7-A grade of the junior high school,” but also said that Wagner “was discharged because of a necessary consolidation of classes which reduced the number of necessary teachers.”

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On this day in 1939, the Eagle reported, “Madrid surrendered without firing a shot today, resistance collapsed elsewhere in the Republican provinces, and the long Spanish civil war was over, exempt from mopping up in the south and toward the coast. Gen. Franco, Nationalist leader, personally directed the triumphal entry into Madrid of 200,000 troops … The population poured into the streets in wild rejoicing that the 32-months-old war was over. Workshops, factories and offices closed and the workers joined the celebrating throngs, who hailed the entering nationalists with joy.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress CONCHATA FERRELL, who was born in 1943; TV personality KATE GOSSELIN, who was born in 1975; singer and actress LADY GAGA, who was born in 1986; singer and actress REBA McENTIRE, who was born in 1955; basketball coach and former player BYRON SCOTT, who was born in 1961; former basketball coach and player JERRY SLOAN, who was born in 1942; actress JULIA STILES, who was born in 1981; hockey player KEITH TKACHUK, who was born in 1972; actor VINCE VAUGHN, who was born in 1970; and Oscar Award-winning actress DIANNE WIEST, who was born in 1948.

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IRVING “SWIFTY” LAZAR WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1907. The Hollywood talent agent whose clients included Ernest Hemingway, Lillian Hellman, Cole Porter, Richard Nixon and Humphrey Bogart was nicknamed “Swifty” after Lazar met Bogart’s challenge to make him five film deals in one day in 1955. Lazar died in 1993 in California.

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THE VIETNAM MORATORIUM CONCERT WAS HELD ON THIS DAY IN 1970. A seven-hour concert was held at Madison Square Garden and featured stars who donated their services for the antiwar cause. Among them were Jimi Hendrix, Dave Brubeck, Harry Belafonte, Judy Collins and the Broadway cast of “Hair.”

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ST. TERESA OF AVILA WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1515. She was the founder of the Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites and as Doctor of the Catholic Church. Creating a rule of silence, poverty and separation from the world, Teresa founded 17 reformed Carmelite convents, called “discalced” from their practice of wearing sandals. She befriended St. John of the Cross, with whom she established the first Carmelite community of friars. Her writings include “The Way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle.” She died in 1582 in Alba de Tormes. Teresa was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.

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FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1924. As a child star of the 1930s, he appeared in 24 films and became the second-highest-paid child star after Shirley Temple. Bartholomew died in Florida in 1992.

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ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1811. After seminary school, he emigrated from the Czech Republic, arriving in Manhattan in 1836. Neumann took a post in a rural area, walking miles from farm to farm to meet settlers from many countries. His facility with languages (he spoke 12 fluently) allowed him to minister to a wide variety of people. He joined an order called the Redemptionists in Pittsburgh in 1840 and became bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. During his tenure, a cathedral was begun, 50 churches were built, almost 100 schools were opened and the number of parochial students grew from 500 to 9,000. He died in Philadelphia in 1860. Beatified in 1963, Neumann was canonized in 1977.