June 16: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1927, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Brooklyn drew from its deepest wells of homage today to pour over Col. Charles A. Lindbergh the most humanly enthusiastic acclaim with which it has ever anointed a hero. Magnificently spontaneous, after delays and waiting that might have been expected to tone down the demonstration of any community, Brooklyn came from its homes in numbers far surpassing what had been expected and greeted Colonel Lindbergh with a demonstration that for sustained force at least equaled the one in Manhattan last Monday. The biggest crowd that has risen and bowed to him on any one spot since he stepped out of the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis at Le Bourget more than three weeks ago tore its lungs, its hair and its heart on the Parade Grounds of Prospect Park when he appeared there as calm, as reserved and as grinning as a schoolboy on a holiday.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle reported, “Rapidly approaching their 136th hour of constant dancing — broken only by those 15 minutes of rest which aren’t rest — 29 determined couples of young men and young women were still moving slowly and solemnly about Madison Square Garden today in quest of the $5,000 prize promised the winning team in the international dance marathon. To win this event, a couple must outlast all others. That is all there is to it. It is a case of the survival of the fittest. Only five couples dropped out in the last 24 hours. The judges and doctors insist that the eliminations will be slower and less frequent from now on. The favorites in the race remained. Since the marathon is scheduled to keep going until but one couple is left, Milton D. Crandall, its boss, has arranged to move the dancers down to the basement of the Garden next Thursday, or fight night, if necessary.”