June 25: ON THIS DAY in 1944, Yanks seize last Cherbourg Heights; Reds smash Nazi lines on 4 fronts; Navy task force bags 82 Jap planes

June 25, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1845, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The ceremonies in honor of the deceased patriot Andrew Jackson were performed yesterday in a solemn and appropriate manner. The weather was favorable; business generally was suspended; and people of all ages, sexes and conditions repaired to New York, where the funeral obsequies, as agreed upon by the joint committee, were to take place. The Brooklyn division began to muster at the various places designated in the programme some time in advance of the hour specified. The various companies of firemen, lodges of Odd Fellows, and other civic associations, with their banners shrouded in black, and badges surmounted with rosettes of crepe, were out in force; and the military were more fully represented than usual. By 12 o’clock the shops and places of business generally were closed; and when the procession began to move, the bell of St. John’s Church, and of the Presbyterian Church in Jay, near Sands street, were tolled, and the minute-guns — fired by Capt. Crooke’s company of Artillery — reverberated from the Heights … Altogether, it was a fitting tribute to the memory of him who is second only to Washington in the hearts of his countrymen.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Eagle reported, “The population of the Continental United States is estimated at 105,000,000 by J.A. Hill, chief statistician of the Census Bureau. His calculation is based on the combined populations of 1,406 cities and towns for which statistics have been announced. The increase over 1910 is placed at about 13,000,000, showing the growth of the country has not kept pace with the previous decade. Almost complete cessation of immigration during the war is the chief reason assigned for the falling off in growth. Other suggestions were the two influenza epidemics, return of aliens to their native lands and deaths of soldiers abroad and at home during the war.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “ALLIED SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, LONDON (U.P.) — American infantrymen captured the last heights overlooking Cherbourg and stormed down the slopes to within 1,000 yards of the flaming port today, sweeping up hundreds of exhausted prisoners and huge quantities of arms and ammunition abandoned by the retreating Germans. Battered and stunned by the hellfire of bombs and shells rained on them from land, sea and air, the Nazi defenders still fought back with fanatical fury, but front dispatches said Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s Yankee veterans were beating them back foot by foot in a narrowing death trap inside the city. Two of the three forts on the southern approaches to the port fell to the attacking Americans yesterday and United Press War Correspondent Henry T. Gorrell reported from the battlefield that the last hours of Cherbourg’s siege were at hand.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “10,000,000TH RIDER: Air Corps Sgt. William Beekman of Fort Dix, accompanied by his wife, Florence, received a $100 War Defense Bond from Fred Garms, operator of the Wonder Wheel, as the lucky passenger on the 32-year-old Coney Island ride.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “NEWPORT (U.P.) — A 23-year-old Washington heiress will be married in September to Senator John F. Kennedy, the ‘most eligible bachelor’ of capital society, whom she met a year ago while working as an inquiring photographer. The family of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who made her debut at a Newport dance in 1948, announced the engagement here last night. The wedding will take place Sept. 12 in this summer rendezvous of high society. Kennedy, 36, son of multimillionaire Joseph P. Kennedy, was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts last fall on the Democratic ticket. He defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, who has since been appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Miss Bouvier, onetime art student at the Sorbonne in Paris, is the daughter of John V. Bouvier 3rd of New York and Mrs. Hugh. D. Auchincloss of Newport and McLean, Va. … Kennedy, who served three terms in the House before his election to the Senate, was graduated from Harvard in 1940 and commanded a PT boat in the Pacific during World War II … He and his eight brothers and sisters each received $1,000,000 from their father, former U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain.”