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MILESTONES: July 3, birthdays for Tom Cruise, Partynextdoor, Audra McDonald

July 3, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Tom Cruise. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Tom Cruise. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 183rd day of the year.

On this day in 1935, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page announced the opening of the Prospect Park Zoo. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia helped dedicate the new zoo. Other dignitaries attending included former New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith, and of course, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who presided. “Brooklyn’s magnificent new zoo in Prospect Park was formally opened this afternoon to the accompaniment of speeches by distinguished citizens of New York and roars, squeals, yelps and assorted shrieks by the zoo’s new tenants. Voices of man and beast were heard by a crowd of several thousand, children and grownups, who gathered for the dedication, and by a larger unseen audience that took in all in by radio. The ceremonies were broadcast over WEAF, WJZ, WOR and WNYC.”

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On this day in 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle main headline read, “Earhart Cries for Aid At Sea.” A secondary headline reported “Plane Is Down in Area that is Shark Infested.” The  United Press story, dispatched from Los Angeles, read, “Distress signals signed with the call letters of Amelia Earhart’s monoplane flashed over the Pacific today in the midst of a feverish sea and sky hunt for the famed aviatrix missing in Equatorial waters surrounding tiny Howland Island.” Based on the signal, the plane was believed to be adrift between Howland Island and the Gilbert Islands, which are known now as the Republic of Kiribati, geographically an atoll (ribbon reef) of about 16 “islands.” This atoll is midway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii, which at the time was officially an organized incorporated territory of the U.S.

Also on this edition’s Society section, the Eagle published the wedding notice of Caroline Goree Faison, daughter of Mrs. & Mrs. John W. Faison of Brooklyn Heights. The Faisons were a prominent Heights family, and the wedding took place at their Remsen Street home.  The John W. Faison named as the father of the bride was also the father of John W. Faison Jr., Seth Faison and Ann Faison.

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On this day in 1863, the Eagle reported on the Battle of Gettysburg, which proved to be a decisive turning point in the Civil War, in favor of the Union Army. The Eagle carried dispatches in two adjoining columns, including a mention of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment, in the first story. A second story featured updates from a Philadelphia newspaper. The first story began, “A detailed account of the Battle of Gettysburg has been received. On Wednesday, Gen. [John F.] Reynolds, commanding the First Corps of our Army, attacked the rebel Division of Gen. [Richard S.] Ewell, west of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. [Ewell was a respected Confederate Commander, although some historians believe that his actions in the Battle of Gettysburg tarnished his legacy.]  The story continued, “Reynolds, somewhat hastily and before his line of battle was perfectly formed, crossed the intervening valley and attacked the rebels. Our forces were driven back, closely pursued by the rebels, who expected to convert the retreat into a rout.” Reynolds was killed during the Battle of Gettysburg when, in an exposed position, he received a bullet to the neck.

Also on this same news edition, the Eagle reported on the commencement exercises at Long Island College Hospital. Founded five years earlier, in 1858, Long Island College Hospital introduced the practice of bedside teaching, and would later become the first U.S. hospital to use stethoscopes and anesthesia.

The same page publishing reports of the Battle of Gettysburg and the more local LICH graduation also carried a letter from the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, founder and pastor of Plymouth Church, who was traveling in England. “We came up the Mersey under driving clouds, amidst pelting rain, a motley set of passengers — cloaked, shawled and rubbered, more like an express load of woolen bundles than human beings. The little black tug came off to receive us, looking, alongside of the City of Baltimore, very much like a black ant fastened to a bumble bee. The ferry and passenger boats on this river are exquisitely inconvenient. The only shelter hole for passengers is under deck, far less desirable than the engine room of Fulton Ferry boats.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include U.S. Sen. LAMAR ALEXANDER, who was born in 1940; former baseball player MOISES ALOU, who was born in 1966; journalist and publisher JULIAN ASSANGE, who was born in 1971; humorist and author DAVE BARRY, who was born in Brooklyn in 1947; actress BETTY BUCKLEY, who was born in 1947; actor TOM CRUISE, who was born in 1962; actor THOMAS GIBSON, who was born in 1962; Tony Award-winning actress AUDRA McDONALD, who was born in 1970; former hockey player TEEMU SELANNE, who was born in 1970; actor KURTWOOD SMITH, who was born in 1942; playwright and screenwriter TOM STOPPARD, who was born in 1937; race car driver SEBASTIAN VETTEL, who was born in 1987; and talk show host MONTEL WILLIAMS, who was born in 1956.

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AIR-CONDITIONING APPRECIATION DAYS BEGIN TODAY. It is recognized during Dog Days (July 3-Aug. 15), the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, to acknowledge the contribution of air-conditioning to a better way of life.

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JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1738. Copley was the most important American painter of the 18th century. After rapid early success in Boston as an in-demand portrait painter (among his subjects was Paul Revere), Copley moved to London in 1774 and traveled in Europe to study further. Copley’s best-known painting is “Watson and the Shark,” depicting a youth saved from the jaws of the approaching predator in the Bay of Havana, Cuba. Copley died in London in 1815.

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M.F.K. FISHER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1908. TWith the publication of her first book, Serve It Forth (1937), the prolific author essentially invented a new genre: essays about food. Her other titles include “The Gastronomical” and “With Bold Knife and Fork.” Fisher died in California in 1992.

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

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“Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.” — author M. F. K. Fisher, who was born on this day in 1908

 


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