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MILESTONES: July 11, birthdays for Caroline Wozniacki, Giorgio Armani, Lil’ Kim

July 11, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Caroline Wozniacki. AP Photo/Tim Ireland
Caroline Wozniacki. AP Photo/Tim Ireland
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 192nd day of the year.

On this day in 1907, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “One of the most disastrous floods that has visited downtown Brooklyn in years occurred early this morning when the head of a capped 20-inch water main, at the junction of Fulton, Willoughby and Adams street, blew out. Ripping up the planking which covers the street at that point, in less time than the telling of it takes, a huge geyser, 40 feet high and nearly 2 feet in diameter, was spouting into the air. For 55 minutes, until the water gates could be shut, the spectacular column of water continued to shoot up, flooding streets and cellars for blocks around. As the water fell, it rushed up Fulton Street as far as Smith, eating a great hole in the sidewalk just at the foot of the elevated station stairs in front of the Hall of Records. It ran up Willoughby Street to Jay and down Adams Street nearly to the junction of Myrtle Avenue.”

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On this day in 1844, the Eagle reported on the death of Mormon leader Joseph Smith, which took place on June 27: “Some of the accounts say that he was shot by a guard while attempting to make his escape from the jail in which he was confined, while others aver a band of armed men, disguised as savages … rushed past the guard and murdered the prophet in cold blood. This last version of the story is most probable; and, if true, we hope that Gov. Ford will bring the murderers to justice. The shooting of defenseless men who have surrendered themselves to the proper authorities and are awaiting the due course of law, because their religious views are obnoxious to the mass, is a barbarity too monstrous to be passed over in silence.”

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On this day in 1896, the Eagle quoted various publications regarding the events of the Democratic National Convention, including the New York Herald, which wrote, “A phrase has nominated a candidate for the presidency. ‘No crown of thorns. No cross of gold.’ This was the peroration of the remarkable speech which Mr. [William Jennings] Bryan of Nebraska, the Boy Orator of the Platte, delivered yesterday during the discussion of the platform. As in the flurry of current history this phrase may have escaped you, I will explain what it means. The crown of thorns worn by our blessed Saviour is, Mr. Bryan puts it, Wall Street resting upon the brows of the Western poor. The golden cross upon which the poor are daily crucified is likewise Wall Street. The metaphor is vague and melodramatic and somewhat an invasion of things deemed sacred. Still, it nominated a Democratic candidate for president.”

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On this day in 1936, the Eagle reported, “President [Franklin] Roosevelt dedicated the vast Triborough Bridge today, and in turning the $60,300,000 structure over to the citizens of New York amid impressive celebrations he cited it as a symbol of how government, ‘if it is to survive,’ must recognize change and meet the new and costly needs of a more complex life. Flanked by Governor [Herbert] Lehman, Mayor [Fiorello] LaGuardia, members of the Triborough Bridge Authority, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes and other officials, the president delivered his address from a platform built on a ramp of the bridge 35 feet above the heads of an audience of close to 3,000 on Randalls Island, the crossroads of the three tentacles reaching to Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx.”

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On this day in 1943, the Eagle reported, “Washington, July 10 (U.P.) — The appropriate pleasantries had been exchanged, the dinner was over, President Roosevelt threw his napkin on the table, leaned back in his chair and told his guests — a select few — that he had an announcement to make. Turning toward General Henri Honore Giraud, in the place of honor at his right, the president remarked in a conversational voice that he had ‘just had word of the first attack against the soft underbelly of Europe.’ He talked for several minutes. He said that Allied troops had landed in Sicily. For the Axis, he said, ‘tonight is the beginning of the end.”

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On this day in 1952, the Eagle reported, “Civil Defense needs recruits for its Ground Observer Corps, to co-operate with the Air Force in maintaining a round-the-clock watch on the skies over Brooklyn and the metropolitan area. You can help — volunteer at the nearest police station or at borough CD headquarters, 2 Court St. (MAin 4-7681). Two of the city’s three ground observation posts are in Brooklyn, so the work won’t take you far from home.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include fashion designer GIORGIO ARMANI, who was born in 1936; literary critic HAROLD BLOOM, who was born in 1930; actor JUSTIN CHAMBERS, who was born in 1970; actor GREG GRUNBERG, who was born in 1966; TV personality JOHN HENSON, who was born in 1967; football player JACOBY JONES, who was born in 1984; actor STEPHEN LANG, who was born in 1952; rapper LIL’ KIM, who was born in 1974; former Brooklyn Borough Historian JOHN MANBECK, who was born in Brooklyn in 1931; hockey executive and former player AL MACINNIS, who was born in 1963; U.S. Sen. ED MARKEY, who was born in 1946; singer BONNIE POINTER, who was born in 1951; actor MICHAEL ROSENBAUM, who was born in 1972; musician ROCHIE SAMBORA, who was born in 1960; model JOAN SMALLS, who was born in 1988; former boxer LEON SPINKS, who was born in 1953; actress, director and producer BEVERLY TODD, who was born in 1946; singer SUZANNE VEGA, who was born in 1959; actress SELA WARD, who was born in 1956; and tennis player CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, who was born in 1990.

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E.B. WHITE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1899. The versatile author of books for adults and children (“Charlotte’s Web,” “Stuart Little”) and editor at The New Yorker. Coauthor of “The Elements of Style,” he is one of the most acclaimed (and used) English-language style guides. White died in Maine in 1985.

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“TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD” WAS PUBLISHED ON THIS DAY IN 1960.  Harper Lee’s evocative novel of tomboy Scout Finch coming of age in a Depression-era Alabama town was published this day by J.B. Lippincott. A bestseller almost immediately, it earned Lee a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Librarians voted it the best novel of the 20th century.

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AARON BURR AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON DUELED ON THIS DAY IN 1804. U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr shot and mortally wounded former secretary of the Treasury (and primary author of “The Federalist Papers”) Alexander Hamilton in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton had insulted Burr and refused to make a public apology. Hamilton died the next day. Although Burr returned to Washington, D.C., to execute his duties as vice president, the duel ended his political career.

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

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“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” — E. B. White, who was born on this day in 1899

 


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