Brooklyn Boro

May 1: ON THIS DAY in 1944, 1,000 U.S. planes hit French coast

May 1, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History
Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Considerable excitement marked the sailing of the Lusitania, of the Cunard line, which was scheduled to leave her pier at 10 o’clock yesterday morning, but had not made way an hour after that time. Scores of private detectives mingled with the passengers, who were forced to pick out and identify their baggage. Another inconvenience was the fact that no person was allowed to board the boat until they had procured credentials. There were 1,310 passengers aboard, of this number 300 were saloon. Among the more prominent on board were Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Charles Frohman, Elbert Hubbard, D.A. Thomas and his daughter, Lady Mackworth and Charles Klein. Numerous telegrams were received at the pier by passengers, signed with fictitious names, advising them not to sail as the big steamer was to be torpedoed by German submarines. Mr. Vanderbilt was the recipient of one of these, but after glancing at the message, destroyed it without comment.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1935, Eagle reporter Art Arthur wrote, “The lonesomest man in Union Square today was Angelo Guspanti, a simple citizen who made the mistake of trying to sell tiny American flags to Communists marching in the May Day parade. To Angelo, a parade is a parade. He has always managed to pick up a few pennies in the past peddling his flags. Today Angelo invested his limited capital of some 35 cents in an assortment of small-size Old Glories and set out, as usual, to vend his wares. But no takers.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — Unchallenged by German fighters, up to 1,000 American planes opened a new month and the third unbroken week of the unprecedented offensive against western Europe today with a smash at the French invasion coast across the straits of Dover. The Berlin radio reported Allied bomber formations approaching western and southern Germany at 6 p.m. Such broadcasts sometimes have preceded announcements of Allied attacks on German bases in eastern France. All the Flying Fortresses, Liberators and escorting fighters returned from the dawn assault on the Pas de Calais coastal fortifications. They set up such a din that crowds swarmed to the chalk cliffs of Dover in the belief that the invasion was beginning. Allied plans call for air attacks from now on which will overshadow the April record by a wide margin and which with good weather and good luck might reduce the German air force to a skeleton before the great land campaign gets under way.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “A 59-year-old historical error has been rectified with the removal of a plaque identifying the site where Washington’s army was saved from disaster to its rightful place on the present site of Long Island University. In a noon-hour ceremony that attracted several thousand onlookers, the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York unveiled the tablet in observance of Washington’s first inauguration as President. The plaque, commemorating an entrenchment that served as the main line of defense in the critical Battle of Brooklyn, was originally set into the wall of the Smith-Gray Building at the intersection of Fulton and Nevins St. and Flatbush Ave. When the building was renovated two years ago, Borough Historian James A. Kelly checked through the maps and records and discovered that the Smith-Gray Building stood on the second, not the first, line of defense. The true location, he discovered, was Metcalfe Hall, L.I.U.’s 11-story building at De Kalb Ave. and Flatbush Ave. Extension, a block north. Some 50 Brooklyn civic and business leaders, including Acting Borough President John J. Lynch, participated yesterday in the rededication of the plaque, a bronze tablet four feet by three feet.”

***

ON MAY 2, 1939, the Eagle reported, “DETROIT (AP) — Manager Joe McCarthy of the New York Yankees announced today that Lou Gehrig, who has played in 2,130 consecutive games, would be benched at his own request in today’s game with the Detroit Tigers.”





Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment