June 2: ON THIS DAY in 1953, Elizabeth is crowned
ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Gertrude Ederle, famous American aquatic star, sailed today on the Berengaria of the Cunard Line to make another attempt at swimming the English Channel, which she failed to do last year. Miss Ederle was accompanied by her father, Henry Ederle, and her sister, Mrs. Charles Deuschle. Miss Ederle seemed to think that luck and endurance are all that is needed to conquer the Channel. ‘It’s all a matter of luck. I would like to make another try in July,’ she said. The presence of her relatives will be a great encouragement to her, she said. Asked whether she thought Jabez Wolff, her trainer, accountable for last year’s failure, she answered: ‘No, I do not blame anybody. It is purely luck and endurance.’ She said she would start from Cape Gris Nez, on the French coast, and ‘land at some part of England, if I ever get there.’ Her trainer will be William Burgess. ‘Yes, I learned a number of things. I know now when to take off my cap and goggles, and I know when to rest,’ she said, replying to a question whether she had profited by last year’s attempt.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — American bombers struck through clearing skies at German defenses on the continent today, renewing the pre-invasion assault in which United States heavy bombers dropped 63,000 tons of explosives on Nazi Europe last month. Strong forces of U.S. bombers flew high over the Channel toward France in the wake of British night raiders who defied dirty weather to smash at the French rail center of Saumur, and the invasion coast, while R.A.F. planes from Italy hit Szolnok, the Hungarian rail bottleneck 30 miles east of Budapest. United States headquarters announced that during May the American air forces in Britain and Italy flew 49,811 sorties against Germany and occupied territory, the Flying Fortresses and Liberators alone dropping bombs at a rate of more than 2,000 tons a day. An official summary of the massive aerial onslaught softening the continent for invasion revealed that U.S. airmen shot down 1,268 German planes in May — 636 credited to bomber crewmen and 632 to fighters. American losses were 481 heavy bombers and 235 fighters — a ratio of 1.59 of the bombers engaged and 1.19 percent of the fighters.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.