MILESTONES: March 29, birthdays for Chris D’Elia, N’Golo Kante, Dimitri Payet

Brooklyn Today

March 29, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Chris D'Elia. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 88th day of the year.

On this day in 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Brooklyn’s citizens would convene that night to protect its own school rights from proposed legislation. The state Legislature was set to adopt the education chapter of the Charter Revision Commission, which would give the superintendent control of all New York City’s schools. The Eagle story, implying that Brooklynites believed their schools to be superior, read, “Incidentally, the citizens will make an effort to develop the movement into a general protest against the alleged questionable treatment this borough has received in the matter of all public questions since the consolidation.” The Great Consolidation of Brooklyn had taken effect three years earlier.

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On this day in 1899, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that major financiers of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company had just acquired the Brighton Beach Hotel property and were about to complete purchase of the Manhattan Beach property as well. The Eagle lamented that the bloc aimed for a monopoly of the railway as well, which would suspend operations for a month. None of the parties would go on the record to confirm this with Eagle writers. At the time, one of the principal players was Austin Corbin, a known anti-Semite who had at one point formed an organization to purge Jews from this prime section of Brooklyn. However, Corbin was killed in 1896 when he fell from his horse carriage. By March 1899, agreements were reached that would allow the line to expand so that it would reach the Manhattan Beach Hotel directly.

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On this day in 1925 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the International Birth Control Conference in which a doctor “cruelly announced,” wrote reporter Marjorie Dorman, that science had no light on one’s ability to select the gender of a child. But it was an inset sidebar that caught the readers’ attention. It was a letter signed by a Don Seitz that proposed — sarcastically perhaps — “Mankind’s Painless Removal from Earth.” Addressing Margaret Sanger, the pioneer in birth control, Seitz posed the argument that she did not go far enough “in the cause which you so ably and bravely advocate.” He wrote, “Man is the most wicked and destructive of all animals. He cannot be controlled by religion or morals.” Arguing that mankind’s continued insistence on surviving has wreaked cruelty on women and children, Seitz asked, “Would it not be wiser to aim at the painless removal of mankind from the face of the universe by ceasing reproduction altogether?”

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Also on this day in 1925, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in an inside section, announced that the Eagle’s 10th annual current events competition would take place that Friday at the New Utrecht High School. The Eagle often held contests on various topics with a variety of prizes for the wines.

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On this day in 1930 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that the borough was going to get a new college. Legislation identified as the Downing-Steingut bill would merge City Brooklyn City College and Hunter College into one entity, the University of the City of New York. (It’s now called City University of New York.) The merger meant that Brooklyn College would become equal in stature; and Brooklyn City College President Dr. William A. Boylan would be equal in power, with no superior officer of provost. According to Brooklyn College’s history page, Boylan became the new institution’s first president, and Brooklyn College’s first campus was in Downtown Brooklyn near Borough Hall.

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On this day in 1945 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that the merged Allied armies were racing toward the German city of Leipzig, with the Allies approaching from one side and “demoralized Germans” falling into Allied hands. Meanwhile, the Soviets had entered Austria and were liberating villages there. In New York City, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was making plans for V-E Day.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Hall of Fame football player EARL CAMPBELL, who was born in 1955; Hall of Fame tennis player JENNIFER CAPRIATI, who was born in 1976; actor BUD CORT, who was born in 1948; director MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS, who was born in 1967; actress MEGAN HILTY, who was born in 1981; actor and comedian ERIC IDLE, who was born in 1943; actor CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT, who was born in 1957; actress LUCY LAWLESS, who was born in 1968; model and actress ELLE MACPHERSON, who was born in 1964; former British Prime Minister JOHN MAJOR, who was born in 1943; and Olympic gymnast KURT THOMAS, who was born in 1956.

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EUGENE McCARTHY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1916. The longtime congressman and senator from Minnesota is best-remembered for his campaign for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. McCarthy ran on a strong antiwar platform, garnering support from those opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam conflict, but ultimately lost the nomination to Hubert Humphrey. McCarthy never held public office again, despite four more tries at the presidency. He died in Washington, D.C. in 2005.

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DENTON TRUE “CY” YOUNG WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1867. The Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher is the sport’s all-time winningest pitcher, having accumulated 511 victories in his 22-year career. The Cy Young Award is given each year in his honor to Major League Baseball’s best pitcher. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937 and died in Ohio in 1955.

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THE COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS REPORT WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1979. The House Select Committee on Assassinations released the final report on its investigation into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Based on available evidence, the committee concluded that President Kennedy was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy, although no trail of a conspiracy could be established. They also concluded that on the basis of scientific acoustical evidence two gunmen fired at the president, although no second gunman could be identified. In addition, the committee concluded that the possibility of conspiracy did exist in the cases of Dr. King and Robert Kennedy, although no specific individuals or organizations could be pinpointed as being involved.