August 20: ON THIS DAY in 1953, Russia explodes H-bomb

August 20, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1842, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “China. — It was said at last accounts that Yang, an imperial commissioner, was en route to offer 40,000,000 dollars as compensation to the British for the expenses of the war, and the surrendered opium; also the cession of Hong Kong as the price of peace. The Chinese had already commenced removing the ruins and rubbish preparatory to rebuilding the Brogue forts. Some fighting had taken place at Ningpo, in which 1,100 British routed 600 Chinese, with the loss of from 5 to 700.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Eagle reported, “As a result of the fatal accident to Ray Chapman, shortstop of the Cleveland Indians, an agitation has been started for the wearing of headguards by baseball players on taking their turn at the bat in order to safeguard against a repetition of the Chapman accident. If both major leagues adopt such a headgear, the baseball players will certainly rival their brethren on the gridiron. A noseguard might be included and then we would have the full football apparel on the ball field. Improvement in baseball equipment has been going on for the past 15 or 20 years. In the olden days, gloves were unheard of and when they were introduced they were laughed at.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “Gloria Vanderbilt, who seven years ago was the pawn in the celebrated legal battle over her custody, today effected a reconciliation between her mother, Mrs. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her ailing grandmother, Mrs. Laura Morgan. Following a transcontinental airplane dash from Hollywood, young Gloria saw her mother and her grandmother patch up their difficulties and end their long quarrel with a kiss in Mrs. Morgan’s Manhattan apartment today. Seven years ago Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, in a bitter court battle with Mrs. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, won partial custody of young Gloria Vanderbilt, her niece. Mrs. Laura Morgan testified for Mrs. Whitney against her own daughter. Since that time, it is reported, Mrs. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt has never spoken to her mother until today.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “Washington (UP) — Air Force investigators who turned up two tattered disk-type airplanes in an abandoned Maryland tobacco shed hinted today the discovery may ‘break’ the flying saucer mystery. They were searching for a missing inventor who built the two craft and reportedly got one of them into the air before disappearing with his wife and child about 10 years ago. ‘It is apparent that both ships would give the appearance of flying disks,’ said a spokesman for Air Force investigators who have worked on the flying saucer mystery for two years with little or no tangible result. ‘They could well be the prototype of what have been reported as flying saucers,’ he said. The investigators hoped to find Jonathan E. Caldwell, whose attempt to sell stock to finance production of the disk planes he invented reportedly was blocked at the time by Maryland authorities.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Washington (UP) — Official confirmation that Russia has exploded an H-bomb today swept the world into a deadly new lap of the atomic arms race and brought Congressional demands for stepped up U.S. defenses. Chairman Lewis L. Strauss of the Atomic Energy Commission announced shortly after midnight that the United States detected an atomic explosion in Russia on Aug. 12 … Strauss made it clear that the United States was far ahead of Russia in developing the awesome H-bomb, which may release up to 1,000 times as much destructive force as an atomic bomb.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle also reported, “Tehran (UP) — Premier Gen. Fazollah Zahedi today demanded that deposed Premier Mohammed Mossadegh come out of hiding and surrender as the new royalist government crushed scattered opposition demonstrations with troops and tanks. The nation awaited the triumphant return of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi from one of the shortest exiles in history. The Shah was reported planning to leave Rome by plane this evening … Relative calm was restored in Tehran where official estimates put the number of dead in yesterday’s ferocious street fighting at 73 … Sources said the final toll in battles among Communists, Nationalists and Royalists would be nearer 300.”