MILESTONES: May 9, birthdays for Billy Joel, Rosario Dawson, Ghostface Killah

May 9, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Billy Joel. Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP

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On this day in 1902, much of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s front page was devoted to the funeral of Archbishop Michael A. Corrigan, who died on May 5. “With a solemn pontifical mass, [his] mortal remains were today consigned to their last resting place, in the crypt below the high altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral … From early morning a vast crowd had surrounded the high portals … At little after 5 o’clock, an express wagon left at the house a box marked ‘The White House Conservatory.’ It contained a wreath of Easter lilies, white roses and snow balls … It was [President Theodore] Roosevelt’s tribute to his dead friend.”

The front page also reported, “The commander of the French cruiser Suchet has telegraphed to the Minister of Marine from Fort de France, Martinique, that the town of St. Pierre has been completely destroyed and the entire population is supposed to have perished. He adds that the volcanic eruption continues.”

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“There was scarcely a barber shop in Brooklyn open for business today,” the Eagle reported on this day in 1913. “The barbers’ strike was on in earnest. The organizers of the strike did not stop at violence in cowing the men who were not members of the union and forcing them to come out. The big plate glass window in the store at 329 Fulton Street is punctured with a bullet hole and there is a smudge of smoke on the upper part of it due to some harmless bomb that was thrown against the glass.”

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On this day in 1932, the Eagle published the obituary of Gen. William Barclay Parsons, “widely known civil engineer, author and, as lieutenant colonel, commander of the first unit of the American forces to come to grips with the Germans during the World War, [who] died in Presbyterian Hospital, Manhattan, today. General Parsons was in charge of the construction of New York City’s first subways, from Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, to Van Cortlandt Park on the West Side and to Bronx Park on the East Side … Born in New York City in 1859, Gene Parsons was 73 years old.

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On this day in 1937, the Eagle reported, “War Admiral, a son of Man o’ War, and the favorite, won the 63rd running of the Kentucky Derby, before a record crowd, winning by a length over Pompoon. Reaping Reward finished third. War Admiral paid 8 to 5.”

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On this day in 1943, the Eagle reported, “Every fighting man with a mother to love appeared bent on remembering her today as over-taxed communications lines groaned under the burden of tender messages relayed from war fronts over the world. Thousands of soldiers, sailors and marines today will crowd around telephone booths in training centers and wait patiently for an opportunity to put through a call to mother, the New York Telephone Company pointed out in a plea to the public not to make long distance calls on Mother’s Day except in an emergency.”

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On this day in 1947, the Eagle reported, “Hollywood – Superior Judge Ingall W. Bull will rule today on the legality of Leo (Lippy) Durocher’s marriage to motion picture actress Laraine Day. Neither Durocher, suspended Brooklyn baseball manager, nor the actress will be in court to hear whether her divorce from airport manager Ray Hendricks will be canceled on grounds it was obtained by collusion to permit her to elope with Durocher.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress Candice Bergen, who was born in 1946; Oscar Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter James L. Brooks, who was born in Brooklyn in 1940; actress Rosario Dawson, who was born in 1979; actor Albert Finney, who was born in 1936; Oscar Award-winning actress Glenda Jackson, who was born in 1937; singer and composer Billy Joel, who was born in 1949; former U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic, who was born in 1938; and hockey executive and Hall of Fame player Steve Yzerman, who was born in 1965.

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On this day in 1902, much of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s front page was devoted to the funeral of Archbishop Michael A. Corrigan, who died on May 5. “With a solemn pontifical mass, [his] mortal remains were today consigned to their last resting place, in the crypt below the high altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral … From early morning a vast crowd had surrounded the high portals … At a little after 5 o’clock, an express wagon left at the house a box marked ‘The White House Conservatory.’ It contained a wreath of Easter lilies, white roses and snow balls … It was [President Theodore] Roosevelt’s tribute to his dead friend.”

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MIKE WALLACE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1918. With a career of more than 60 years as a journalist and broadcaster, he was known for his tireless work ethic and strident interviewing style, firing probing questions at his subjects in a relentless quest for the real story. Wallace got his start as a radio announcer, game show host and pitchman, but by 1960 had developed his hard-hitting style. ABC even promoted him as “the Terrible Torquemada of the TV Inquisition.” He brought that tenacity to “60 Minutes” when it debuted in 1968, helping to shape the style and substance of the long-running CBS newsmagazine, and in the process became a star in his own right. Wallace was arrested at the 1968 Democratic Convention, conducted legendary interviews with the Ayatollah Khomeini, Jack Kevorkian and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won 21 Emmys and stayed active on “60 Minutes” until 2008. He died in 2012 in Connecticut.

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JOHN BROWN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1800. The abolitionist leader spearheaded the attack on Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859, which was intended to give impetus to the movement for escape and freedom for slaves. His aim was frustrated and resulted in increased polarization and sectional animosity. He was hanged in 1859 in Virginia.

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HANK SNOW WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1914. The Country Hall of Fame singer’s career spanned six decades. His first hit among many was 1950’s “I’m Moving On”— it stayed on top of the charts for 21 weeks. Snow, a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, was instrumental in getting Elvis Presley on the bill there. Snow died in 1999 in Tennessee.

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JAMES M. BARRIE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1860. The playwright and author is best known for his play “Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up,” which was first performed in 1904 and published in 1928. Barrie died in 1937 in England.

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

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“The highest levels of consciousness are wordless.”— poet Charles Simic, who was born on this day in 1938