MILESTONES: July 6, birthdays for Kevin Hart, Sylvester Stallone, Ranveer Singh

July 6, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Kevin Hart. Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision for NFL/AP Images

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 187th day of the year.

On this day in 1947, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published a story by United Press science writer Paul F. Ellis which read, “Reports of ‘flying saucers’ whizzing through the air at rocket speeds poured in again today from many parts of the nation, causing scientists to speculate that many Americans were suffering a bad case of jitters … The news reports that ‘saucers’ were observed came from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Idaho and other states in the Far West. One commercial airline pilot said he had even chased one of the ‘saucers’ and that he was unable to catch up with it … A New Jersey woman said she saw one early yesterday; that it was a ‘golden disc’ flashing across the horizon with ‘stunning speed.’ No reports of red, white and blue ‘saucers’ were received on July 4 however.”

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On this day in 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The gallant Gen. [George] Custer, his two brothers, his nephew and brother in law, who have been leading and fighting in the regiments which have been attacking the Indian encampment on the Little Horn River, approached a camp of 2,000 lodges on June 25, with a detachment of the Seventh Regiment numbering 300 men. After a severe and bloody contest, Gen. Custer and his relatives were all killed and not one of the detachment escaped. Two hundred and seven men were buried in one place, and 31 men were wounded … When the Indians left, the battle field looked like a slaughter pen, as it really was, being in a narrow ravine … The bodies of the Custer family have not been recovered, and fuller reports of the battle are daily expected.”

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On this day in 1902, the Eagle reported from Chicago, “The detectives of the Rock Island Railroad claim to have several clues to the identity of the men who held up the passenger train near Dupont. They assert that the robbers were Butch Cassidy and Harry Longbaugh, who are said to have belonged to the gang that held up a Union Pacific train some time ago.”

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On this day in 1912, the Eagle reported, “The cornerstone of the grand stand at Ebbets Field, the new home-to-be of Brooklyn baseball, was laid this morning at the southwest corner of the field, which lies on Bedford Avenue, between Montgomery and Sullivan streets … Despite the heat, there was a large crowd on hand, and most of the fans showed their enthusiasm by placing within the stone their cards or other forms of signature … The archeologist of future generations who burrows through the accumulated debris of ages and pries the cornerstone loose from the concrete and steel structure will have a great variety of names to puzzle over and have food for speculation over to what race or tribe the Brooklynites of 1912 belonged. Among other articles for the scientist of the distant future to use as material for lectures were a copy of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Jan. 3, 1912, describing what the park was to be like; a copy of the Eagle of yesterday, giving the programme for the exercises today; and a copy of the Eagle Almanac.”

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On this day in 1919, the Eagle reported, “Perhaps the Red demonstrations were postponed on account of the heat … The crimson uprising was confined to the thermometer.”

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On this day in 1948, the Eagle reported, “Washington, July 6 (U.P.) — Soviet Ambassador Alexander S. Panyushkin today was handed a United States note protesting the Russian blockade of Western Berlin. The note was believed to have called on Moscow to lift the blockade at once. It also was understood to have made it plain that the Soviets would be considered responsible for any future lack of food by the Germans … Presumably identical notes of protest were handed to the Soviet ambassadors in London and Paris at the same time … This is the first time the Western powers have approached Moscow directly on the Berlin crisis.”

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On July 7, 1952, the Eagle reported, “Few sandlot hurlers can boast more than one no-hitter, but Fred Wilpon of the unbeaten Blue Jays turned in the rare feat of tossing two Hall of Fame performances in a row in Senior National Division of the Kiwanis Baseball League. Wilpon, a right-hander … twirled his second no-hitter at the expense of the Bengals, 11-0.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress ALLYCE BEASLEY, who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; actor NED BEATTY, who was born in 1937; former President GEORGE W. BUSH, who was born in 1946; Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader and Nobel Prize recipient DALAI LAMA, who was born in 1935; basketball player PAU GASOL, who was born in 1980; actor GRANT GOODEVE, who was born in 1952; comedian and actor KEVIN HART, who was born in 1980; author HILARY MANTEL, who was born in 1952; Oscar Award-winning actor GEOFFREY RUSH, who was born in 1951; actor SYLVESTER STALLONE, who was born in 1946; and actor BURT WARD, who was born in 1945.

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JOHN LENNON MET PAUL McCARTNEY ON THIS DAY IN 1957. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney watched a band called the Quarrymen led by an almost 17-year-old John Lennon in Liverpool, England. The two teens met later that day and before long created one of the most popular rock groups of the 20th century — The Beatles.

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JANET LEIGH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1927. The actress was signed to a contract by MGM while still a teenager and starred in “Touch of Evil” with Orson Welles, “The Manchurian Candidate” with Frank Sinatra and “Bye Bye Birdie” with Dick Van Dyke. She is best remembered for the scene where she was attacked in the shower by Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic “Psycho.” Leigh died in 2004 in California.

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FRIDA KAHLO WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1907. In 1925, the great Mexican surrealist painter endured severe injuries in a bus accident that would plague her for the rest of her life (and become artistic subject matter). She then turned to art, encouraged by the master muralist Diego Rivera, whom she married in 1929 (and 1941). She is known almost as much for her tumultuous life (she had an affair with Soviet exile Leon Trotsky and was active in leftist politics) as for her vibrant artworks filled with symbols and the flora and fauna of Mexico. She was one of the first female painters to sell a work to the Louvre. She died at her Casa Azul family home in Mexico in 1954.

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THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS FORMED ON THIS DAY IN 1854. The party originated at a convention in Ripon Wisconsin in February 1854. A state convention meeting in Michigan formally adopted the name “Republican” on July 6.

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

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“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” — the Dalai Lama, who was born on this day in 1935