January 6: ON THIS DAY in 1919, Roosevelt dies suddenly in his sleep

January 6, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Oyster Bay, L.I. — Colonel Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep early today at his home on Sagamore Hill in this village. The exact time of Colonel Roosevelt’s death was 4:15 a.m., as nearly as can be determined, for there was no person at his bedside at the moment he passed away. A minute or two before, his attendant, James Amos, the young colored man who has been in the employ of the Colonel ever since he left the White House, noticed that the patient was breathing heavily in his sleep and went to call a nurse. When he returned with her, the former President was dead. Mrs. Roosevelt was immediately summoned … The former President came to his home on Sagamore Hill from the Roosevelt Hospital on Christmas Day, but a week later — on New Year’s Day — was stricken with a severe attack of rheumatism and sciatica, from which he had been suffering for some time … Flags were placed at half-mast in Oyster Bay today … The Colonel’s death came as a shock to the people of Oyster Bay, as friends knew that he was about the house the greater part of yesterday, reading and doing some writing. His two sons abroad, Kermit and Theodore, Jr., are, respectively, officers with the American Forces in France and the Army of the Occupation in Germany.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Eagle reported, “Boston — The passing of ‘Babe’ Ruth, slugger extraordinaire and pitcher of high degree, from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Americans for the largest sum ever paid for any baseball player, was due to Ruth’s ego, President Harry H. Frazee said today. ‘I sold Ruth for the best interests of the Boston club,’ he explained. ‘The Babe was not an influence for good, or for team play. He thought only of himself.’ The Red Sox president said he felt the team as it stood today without Ruth and with certain prospective additions would be 25 percent stronger. Two deals are pending, he added, both having as their object an outfielder to take the place Ruth filled.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “Tuskegee, Ala. (U.P.) — Dr. George Washington Carver, 79, who was born a slave and became one of the greatest American scientists, died last night in his home on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, where he had taught since 1896. His chemical discoveries, especially of products that can be made from sweet potatoes and peanuts, increased the income of the South many millions of dollars. He was appointed collaborator in the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture in August 1935. He became a member of the Royal Society of Arts, London, in 1917. Dr. Carver was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1923 for his research in potash, peanuts and sweet potatoes and the Theodore Roosevelt Medal in 1929 for distinguished service to science … Although he received offers that would have made him a millionaire, he refused to leave Tuskegee. Dr. Carver never patented any of his discoveries. In 1940 he gave $33,000 – what was left of his life savings after a bank failure – to create a foundation to perpetuate research in creative chemistry.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “The television industry’s sales of black and white sets fell off ‘drastically’ in the closing months of 1953 because of the news of imminent color television, according to L.F. Cramer, vice president of Avco Manufacturing Corp. Cramer, who is also general manager of Avco’s radio and electronics division, said that when the American public learns the whole truth about color TV – ‘high prices, small screen sizes, little color programming available’ – then color TV actually ‘will stimulate the sale of large-screen black and white receivers.’ He said it will be at least five years before color broadcasting makes sufficient progress in programming to stimulate receiver sales in the volume experienced in black and white television.”