July 19: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 19, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1903, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “HAVANA — President [Tomas Estrada] Palma has sent a letter to President [Theodore] Roosevelt expressing his personal gratification for the consideration shown by the United States throughout the negotiation of the treaties, and also his pleasure over the satisfactory conclusions regarding naval stations and the Isle of Pines questions. The Cuban administration is greatly pleased over the action of the Senate on the treaties, which, it believes, relieves what might have developed into an embarrassing situation both for the United States and Cuba. The authorities learned that the amount of government land within the area of the naval station at Guantanamo is much greater than was supposed. The expense of acquiring the private holdings will not be great. Condemnation proceedings, under the present Spanish law, have practically been completed by the government. The gunboat Nashville will proceed at once to Bahia Honda, where she will be joined by the Cuban engineers. The area of the station at Bahia Honda has been delimited, and includes land on both sides of the harbor.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (July 18) — Japan’s bronzed official speed swimmers picked the hottest day of Berlin’s summer to invade the recently completed Olympic pool and practically set it on fire today. Experts who watched the start of the huge Nipponese squad repeatedly rip through the water in near-world record time or better were almost ready to concede them again the supremacy they established at Los Angeles four years ago … ‘I think we have a much better team than at Los Angeles,’ said one of the Japanese coaches as he watched the squad go through setting-up exercises under the hot sun. The temperature, which reached 90 degrees, curtailed the workouts of the track and field athletes, who preferred the cool steps of the Olympic village lake.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “The Democratic candidate for mayor in all probability will be selected this week. There will be a conference, most likely at Tammany Hall, attended by the five county leaders — George W. Olvany, John H. McCooey, Edward J. Flynn, Maurice Connolly and David S. Rendt. Governor [Al] Smith is not expected to sit at the conference table, but he will be near at hand, a few blocks uptown. If the conference gets into a deadlock, the leaders may summon him to point the way to victory at the polls this fall. With the conference, a crisis approaches for the Democratic party in New York City. Mayor John F. Hylan is seeking nomination for a third term. He has threatened to run as an independent candidate if he loses out with Tammany. Governor Smith and, apparently, Tammany Leader Olvany and Bronx Leader Flynn have ruled against Hylan and are determined the nomination shall go elsewhere … The need for a young, aggressive candidate seems to favor Senator [James] Walker’s chances. Then, too, Walker is a forceful speaker, possessing a more attractive personality. He has a record of achievement at Albany. He has fought for lower telephone rates. He was the father of the dollar gas law. He has a program.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY (A.P.) — Gov. Herbert H. Lehman, in a letter to U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner, New York Democrat, today asked him to voice opposition to President [Franklin] Roosevelt’s Supreme Court reorganization bill. Lehman, Democratic successor to President Roosevelt as New York’s governor and close personal and political friend of the president, told Wagner that ‘the president is already familiar with my views with regard to the bill.’ ‘Several months ago I wrote to him that I believed its enactment would not be in the best interests of the country,’ he asserted. ‘In the months that have passed since then, my convictions have become strengthened. Like many others, I have frequently felt keen disappointment that important measures have been unconstitutional by a slim and unconvincing margin in the Supreme Court, and yet I believe that the orderly and deliberate processes of government should not be sacrificed merely to meet an immediate situation.’”

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Rachel Robinson
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Benedict Cumberbatch
John Bauld/Wikimedia Commons

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include baseball icon Rachel Robinson, who was born in 1922; “Ryan’s Hope” star Helen Gallagher, who was born in Brooklyn in 1926; “It Must Be Him” singer Vikki Carr, who was born in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bernie Leadon (The Eagles), who was born in 1947; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Brian May (Queen) , who was born in 1947; “King of New York” director Abel Ferrara, who was born in 1951; “The Sweet Hereafter” director Atom Egoyan, who was born in 1960; comedian Lisa Lampanelli, who was born in 1961; “ER” star Anthony Edwards, who was born in 1962; former N.Y. Mets outfielder Preston Wilson, who was born in 1974; “Doctor Strange” star Benedict Cumberbatch, who was born in 1976; former N.Y. Yankees pitcher Phil Coke, who was born in 1982; “Supernatural” star Jared Padalecki, who was born in 1982; and Olympic diver Tyler Downs, who was born in 2003.

Jared Padalecki
Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

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CROWNING MOMENT: King George IV was coronated 200 years ago today. The eldest son of King George III and Queen Charlotte had served as Prince Regent since 1811 due to his father’s mental illness. Known as “the first gentleman of England,” he was nevertheless an unpopular ruler. He died in 1830 and was succeeded by his brother William IV.

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BEHIND THE CURTAIN: The Moscow Summer Olympics opened on this day in 1980. Sixty-six countries, led by the U.S., boycotted the games because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. This was the only Summer Olympics to be held in a communist country until the 2008 games in China.

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

Quotable:

“I didn’t walk behind him, I walked beside him, and we were in it together.”
— baseball icon Rachel Robinson, who was born on this day in 1922