MILESTONES: June 28, birthdays for Elon Musk, John Elway, Kevin De Bruyne

June 28, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Elon Musk. AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 178th day of the year.

On this day in 1911, the Eagle reported, “Abraham Abraham, founder of the great business house of Abraham & Straus, died today at the Thousand Islands. … [He] was 68 years old … The shock with which members of the firm, his relatives and friends in Brooklyn heard of his death was accentuated by the fact that when Mr. Abraham was last seen at the store Monday a week ago, he seemed to be in the best of health … Because of Mr. Abraham’s death, the big store on Fulton Street shut its doors today at noon to remain closed until Monday morning. A short typewritten notice posted at the entrance announced simply the reason for the closing, and the thousands of employees, in all of whom Mr. Abraham had shown a personal interest and many of whom he had befriended in a manner they could never forget, went sadly to their homes.”

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On this day in 1852, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Mr. [Ernest] Petin proposes to ascend on horseback in a balloon if the New York corporation will furnish gas. We should think that the corporation had an abundance of gas to spare, but we doubt the propriety of appropriating it in that way.”

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On this day in 1919, the Eagle reported, “Versailles, June 28 — The world war was formally ended today by the signing of the Peace Treaty with Germany. The epochal meeting in the Hall of Mirrors began at 3:10 o’clock and the German delegates, the first to sign, affixed their signatures at 3:12 and 3:13 o’clock, respectively. They were followed by the American delegates, headed by President [Woodrow] Wilson, and then by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan … At 3:44 o’clock, cannon began to boom announcing the completion of the ceremony of signing.”

It was also reported, “Brooklyn first learned of the signing of the peace treaty through the Brooklyn Eagle, which received the Associated Press bulletin announcing the news at 10:34 o’clock. One half minute later, the announcement was displayed on The Bulletin boards. The news was not displayed anywhere else in Brooklyn until 10:43 o’clock or 8 minutes after the Eagle. Immediately on the receipt of the news, it was communicated to the officials at Borough Hall. After a slight delay in finding the bell-ringer, the bells of Borough Hall were rung for several minutes. Bulletins announcing that peace had been signed were displayed at all the Eagle branches in villages on Long Island from which the people on the Island gained the first news that hostilities with Germany were formally ended.”

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On this day in 1941, the Eagle reported from Philadelphia, “That sensational master of the sock known as Joe DiMaggio is only two steps away from equaling George Sisler’s record for hitting in consecutive games. Sisler pounded the ball for 41 games in a row and Jolting Joe has made the grade at 39 … Earle Combs, Yankee coach, got a good laugh before the game when he was asked whether opposing pitchers aren’t bearing down in order to stop DiMaggio’s streak. ‘Listen,’ Earle answered smiling, ‘those pitchers have to bear down every time they face DiMaggio — record or no record.”

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On this day in 1950, the Eagle reported, “Ed McIlveney, start halfback for the Philadelphia Nationals and at present playing with the U.S. World Cup in Brazil, will offer some consolation to the Manchester United for the desertion of [Charlie] Mitten. He has signed with the English club and will join it on his return from Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. team, after suffering a far from humiliating 3-1 defeat by Spain in the opening rounds of the World Cup, will face the great All-England team tomorrow and Sunday will play Chile.”

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On this day in 1952, the Eagle reported, “Long Beach, Cal., June 28 (U.P.) — Jubilant Jackie Loughery … of Brooklyn, today polished her Miss United States of America gold cup, but she worried a little over the prospect of facing 29 lovely foreign girls with whom she will compete tonight for the title of Miss Universe. The pert redhead won the United States beauty title last night after a nip-and-tuck battle with Louisiana’s Jeanne Thompson. She said she was ‘awfully glad’ she won because of the glory that would go to her native borough. She is an ardent Dodger fan … For the victory, the 21-year-old eye-catcher received a gold cup and the opportunity to compete with some of the most beautiful women in the world for the first Miss Universe title ever bestowed.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Oscar Award-winning actress Kathy Bates, who was born in 1948; baseball manager Don Baylor, who was born in 1949; actress Danielle Brisebois, who was born in Brooklyn in 1969; actor and director Mel Brooks, who was born in Brooklyn in 1926; actor John Cusack, who was born in 1966; actor Bruce Davison, who was born in 1946; football executive and former player John Elway, who was born in 1960; sportscaster and former baseball player Mark Grace, who was born in 1964; opera singer Thomas Hampson, who was born in 1955; actress Alice Krige, who was born in 1954; actress Mary Stuart Masterson, who was born in 1966; and entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk, who was born in 1971.

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THE STONEWALL RIOTS OCCURRED ON THIS DAY IN 1969. Early in the morning of June 28, the clientele of New York City’s Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, rioted after the club was raided by police. The riot was followed by several days of demonstrations. This event is now recognized as the start of the gay liberation movement.

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JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1712. The Swiss philosopher is best known for his work “The Social Contract,” in which he argues that a person’s moral and/or political obligations depend upon an agreement among them to form the society in which they live. Rousseau died in France in 1778.

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MARIA GOEPPERT MAYER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1906. As a participant in the Manhattan Project, she worked on the separation of uranium isotopes for the atomic bomb. Mayer became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize when she shared the 1963 prize for physics with J. Hans Daniel Jensen and Eugene P. Wigner for their explanation of the atomic nucleus, known as the nuclear shell theory. Mayer died in 1972 in California.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY will host “Book Talk | Reading with Patrick” tonight at 6:30 p.m. Author Michelle Kuo will discuss her complex and deeply affecting memoir about a young teacher and student who come together to form an unlikely friendship in the Arkansas Delta. This powerful story offers an expansive, deeply resonant meditation on education, race and justice in the rural South. 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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“Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.” — philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was born on this day in 1712