May 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — President Roosevelt forced a controversial program before Congress today and moved to hammer his judiciary reorganization bill to a showdown vote. There were Democratic protests that Mr. Roosevelt’s court tactics would split the party permanently. Consensus of observers here is that the court bill is headed for compromise and the president for defeat if he forces the issue, but the decision may be a close one. Returning yesterday from his fishing trip, Mr. Roosevelt met his Congressional leaders and revealed his legislative plans. There was no mention of action this year to legislate for business some compensation for the advantages gained by labor under the collective bargaining guarantee of the Wagner Act. Congressional leaders said Mr. Roosevelt would: 1. Require the Senate to vote on his bill to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 15 members; 2. Compel Congress to decide for itself how to effect a 10 to 15 percent saving in next year’s budget; 3. Send a special message to Congress next week proposing the establishment of additional Federal power authorities patterned after TVA; 4. Perhaps ask Congress to enact minimum wage and maximum hours legislation at this session.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “Gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 eastern states today and proved more drastic in practice than the ration cards allowed. An increasing number of services stations in the city, having used up their second third-of-the-month supply, had only dry pumps to offer customers. Holders of X (unlimited) ration cards got no better treatment than the lowly A’s. New supplies to stations will not be delivered until the middle of next week. In Washington, at the same time, OPA authorities considered a still further tightening of the rationing situation, growing out of the unexpectedly large number of X and B cards. The three gallons a week for drivers with A cards could be met, it had been calculated, if at least a third of the east coast’s 8,500,000 motorists fell into the A (non-essential) classification. However, early reports from many large cities, including New York, indicated that only 25 percent of the total were, at present, A cards, with X and B cards to that extent more than expected.”
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’.