MILESTONES: July 24, birthdays for Jennifer Lopez, Kristin Chenoweth, Danny Dyer
Jennifer Lopez. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 205th day of the year.
On this day in 1924, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The best laid plans of a clique of master bootleggers went far astray on Rockaway Beach this morning. Results: Rockaway’s bungalow colony engaged in a pitched battle of bottles and got away with at least 1,800 cases of imported Scotch that the bootleg ring had intended for Broadway’s clubs and cabarets. The Rockaway police force joined in and got four prisoners and 200 cases of the wet goods. The bootleggers lost everything … The competition among the bungalow dwellers, described by the police and the prisoners, developed into the most exciting riot the beach has seen … The police admitted that they were virtually helpless in the affair, as far as stopping the bungalowers’ raids was concerned, and said they were lucky to keep 200 of the cases intact. Rockaway Beach after the melee was strewn with empty bottles and broken up cases.”
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On this day in 1846, the Eagle reported, “A brilliant private picnic, comprising some 40 ladies and gentlemen, ‘came off’ at Coney Island yesterday. There were three omnibus loads of them — part from the great Gomorrah on the other side of the river. They had a ‘first-rate time,’ we are informed.”
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On this day in 1849, the Eagle reported, “Gov. [Hamilton] Fish has issued a proclamation recommending that Friday, Aug. 3 be set apart as a day of fasting humiliation and prayer, that the ravages of the cholera may be speedily stayed. The above is the day recommended by President [Zachary] Taylor for general observation throughout the country.”
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On this day in 1862, the Eagle published a bulletin which read, “Kinderhook, N.Y., July 24, Ex-President Martin Van Buren died at his residence at Lindenwold at 2 o’clock this morning, in the 79th year of his age. His health has been declining for the past year.”
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On this day in 1876, the Eagle reported, “The ice men who took such a wicked delight in increasing the price of ice during the heated term feel that they rather overstepped the mark. They have not had as great a demand for it since that time, and their profits were greater with ice 60 cents than at one dollar a hundred. They are not the only monopolists who have found out their mistake when too late to better their condition. With cool breezes and delightful nights people can manage very well without any great amount of ice, and the poor, to whom it is always a luxury, can do very well without it such weather as we are having.”
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On this day in 1888, the Eagle published the following advertisement: “Next Tuesday. Jere Johnson Jr., auctioneer. Absolute auction sale, 340 lots, Tuesday, July 31, at 2 o’clock P.M., On the premises at Bensonhurst By the Sea, the select portion of Bath Beach, L.I., the new seaside resort … This property has for over 100 years been the residence of the Benson family. Within the last six months, over two miles of streets have been made, sidewalks sodded and paved, water mains laid, fences built, street shade trees and artistic flower beds set out by Olmstead, tennis courts and Bensonhurst Station building constructed. This property is desirable either for summer or winter homes. It is on the ocean, fanned in summer by the cooling southwest breeze, while in winter the salt wind from the ocean tempers the air and makes this location less cold than New York or Brooklyn.”
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On this day in 1952, the Eagle reported, “Chicago, July 24 (UP) — Illinois Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson remained the favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination as delegates massed in Convention Hall today for a marathon session of nominating speeches and noisy demonstrations building up to the payoff presidential balloting tonight … There was a flutter of draft-Truman talk as the big day began. There was a draft flutter, too, for Alben W. Barkley, the 74-year-old veep who withdrew his candidacy under labor pressure here.” It was also reported, “Walter White, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said today the civil rights plank of the Democrats’ new platform is a ‘distinct advance’ over the 1948 pledge and a ‘signal victory for the forces of liberalism in the party.’”
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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include former baseball player BARRY BONDS, who was born in 1964; comedian and actress RUTH BUZZI, who was born in 1936; actress ROSE BYRNE, who was born in 1979; actress and former Miss World-USA LYNDA CARTER, who was born in 1951; actress and singer KRISTIN CHENOWETH, who was born in 1968; actor KADEEM HARDISON, who was born in 1965; actor ROBERT HAYS, who was born in 1947; former jockey JULIE A.KRONE, who was born in 1963; actress and singer JENNIFER LOPEZ, who was born in 1970; Hall of Fame basketball player KARL MALONE, who was born in 1963; U.S. Sen. CLAIRE McCASKILL, who was born in 1953; actor EUGENE MIRMAN, who was born in 1974; actress ELISABETH MOSS, who was born in 1982; cartoonist PAT OLIPHANT, who was born in 1935; actress ANNA PAQUIN, who was born in 1982; actor CHRIS SARANDON, who was born in 1942; and musician PETER SERKIN, who was born in 1947.
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AMELIA EARHART WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1897. The American pilot went missing during her flight from New Guinea to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean in July 1937. Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo, the second person to cross the Atlantic solo and first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Hawaii to California.
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ALEXANDRE DUMAS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1802. The French playwright and novelist is said to have written more than 300 volumes, including “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers.” Dumas died in France in 1870.
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SIMON BOLIVAR WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1783. The Venezuelan liberator is known for his leading role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama, independent of Spanish rule. Bolivar died in 1830 in Colombia.
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TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF RAF JAMS NAZI RADAR IN OPERATION GOMORRAH. On this day in 1943, on the first of the Royal Air Force Operation Gomorrah raids on Hamburg, Germany, “windows” (bales of 101/2-inch strips of aluminum foil) were pushed out of the bombers, causing the German radar screens to display a snowstorm of false echo “aircraft.” As a result, only 12 of the 791 bombers sent on the mission were shot down.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
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“When tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a right.” — Simon Bolivar, who was born on this day in 1783
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