August 15: ON THIS DAY in 1945, Japanese ordered to cease fire

August 15, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1867, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Although the pre-announced grand meteoric display was postponed, there was still observed an unusual number of these eccentric members of the celestial system. At Central Park there were seen, from 9 p.m. of the 11th until 4 a.m. of the 12th, one hundred and ninety-eight meteors, some very brilliant.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1910, the Eagle reported, “The death of Florence Nightingale, at the age of ninety, renews emphasis upon one of the great heroisms of history. During the half century since Miss Nightingale concluded her work for the British soldiers in the Crimea, she has been one of the world’s loved and honored figures, her fame growing through her life of retirement until three years ago King Edward had a statute changed so that she might be invested with the Order of Merit, and a year later the freedom of the City of London was formally conferred upon her, although she was too feeble to attend the ceremony … The success of Miss Nightingale and her thirty-four women nurses in the Crimea is known the world over; it is one of those stories which our love for heroism will not let die. But the consequences of that work in after years have been of even greater value.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “The Canal Zone celebrated today the opening of the Panama Canal. The festivities, however, were but local and suggested little of the international significance of the event. With the official Panama celebration set for next spring, even the United States was not officially represented today except by the men who have long been in the Canal Zone. The steamship Ancon, owned by the United States War Department and leased to the Panama Railroad for service in the New York-Colon trade, was chosen as the first big vessel to be put through signalizing the opening of the canal to all ships up to 10,000 tons register.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “London (U.P.) — Weapons and fresh supplies of ammunition have been rushed into Warsaw to an underground army of 25,000 or more Polish Patriots, and fierce fighting between the Patriots and German armored forces is continuing inside the beleaguered capital, Polish Government sources said today. There was no immediate indication as to how the supplies were brought into Warsaw, but Polish spokesmen in London said they arrived at the 11th hour just as the Germans launched a powerful counter-offensive to clear the Patriot riflemen from the streets.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Guam (U.P.) — Two tremendous torpedo explosions sank the heavy cruiser Indianapolis July 30 and caused 1,196 casualties — every man aboard the ship — while she was bound for Guam to Leyte, survivors reported today. The navy announced that 880 of the casualties were killed or missing in one of the worst U.S. naval disasters of war or peacetime history. The other 316 casualties were wounded. The 9,950-ton cruiser was sunk shortly after delivering essential atomic bomb material to Guam. Survivors said they watched some 200 of their shipmates perish after five days of helplessness threshing in the sea. Many of the men went mad from drinking sea water before the group was sighted by search planes 280 miles north of Peleliu.” On Aug. 19, 2017, a group led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen discovered the wreckage of the Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “Babe Ruth was ‘still critical’ last night. The greatest of the great baseball men fought on for his life in a bed of Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, on E. 68th St., Manhattan … Shortly before 11 p.m., Father Thomas H. Kaufman of St. Catherine’s parish, directly across the street from the hospital, visited Ruth and applied a relic of Mother [Frances Xavier] Cabrini to Ruth’s throat. Ruth still had his usual smile as he kissed the relic, the priest reported. Mother Cabrini was the first American to be canonized a saint in the Catholic church. The relic was brought to this country from Rome only two days ago, although not specifically for Ruth.”