July 20: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 20, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1842, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle quoted the Barre Gazette: “The following is said to be an approved method of killing fleas: Place the animal on a smooth board and pen him in with a circular hedge of shoemaker’s wax, then as soon as he becomes quiet, commence reading to him the doings of Congress during the present session, and in five minutes he will burst with indignation.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “By a vote of ten to six the Board of Estimate today repudiated the agreement reached between the members of the McAneny Committee and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the operation of the Manhattan subways on the East Side and above Fifty-ninth street. By a vote of eleven to five the board then accepted the alternative plan of the McAneny Committee, awarding to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company the amplified city system of subways. The alignment of Controller William A. Prendergast with Mayor William J. Gaynor and John Purroy Mitchel, president of the Board of Alderman, defeated the Interborough. Immediately after the defeat of the Interborough Company, Chairman George McAneny pressed the alternative referring to the Brooklyn company to the front. He secured the necessary support and the passage of his plan. Mayor Gaynor deferred from this second action of the board. He first advised against the action and, when his advice was unheeded, declared solemnly that the City of New York had conferred upon him, as mayor, a separate and independent power of rejection or acquiescence over the routes of the B.R.T. plan.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — A high administration source today expressed belief that a compromise in the judiciary controversy would be achieved which would satisfy all factions ‘except two or three opposition leaders.’ The source, intimately related to the court bill fight, declined to allow the use of his name. He said that, ‘There is a very decided belief by all parties — except two or three opposition leaders — that this thing is going to work out surprisingly satisfactorily to all concerned.’ The statement was made shortly after Vice President John N. Garner, back in Washington after a Texas vacation, held a one-hour conference with President Roosevelt in the White House. Bernard Baruch, presidential adviser, also met briefly with Mr. Roosevelt. The statement that the administration is confident regarding its Supreme Court fight was made despite the surprise letter of Governor [Herbert] Lehman of New York to Senator Robert F. Wagner (D., N.Y.), attacking the administration’s Supreme Court program.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA, July 19 (U.P.) — Top-seeded Shirley Fry of Akron, Ohio, won the Eastern States Women’s Grass Court Tennis championship by defeating Dorothy Head of Alameda, Cal., 7-5, 6-3. The Ohio miss used a clever drop shot to topple the third-seeded Miss Head in the finals at the Merion Cricket Club.” In her career, Shirley Fry won the singles title in all four Grand Slam events and 13 doubles titles. She was the No. 1 player in the world in 1956 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. She died on July 13, 2021 at age 94.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “Cuba’s government recently turned its attention to the country’s third most important import — tourists — and passed a law designed to attract even more Americans to this lovely island, which entertained 216,000 visitors in 1951 and expects to host even more this year. The new legislation created the Cuban Institute of Tourism, an organization with broader and more comprehensive power than the National Tourist Corporation, which it supplanted, headed by Martial Facio, prominent Cuban businessman and industrialist. The institute is charged with the regulation and protection of existing tourist attractions, the development of new ones and, in short, all activities having a bearing on Cuba’s tourist trade. The provisions of the law go into such detail as to include the licensing of guides, inspection of hotels and restaurants, regulation of charges in hotels, taxis and sightseeing cars, handling of complaints, and in general anything concerned with the comfort and well-being of the tourist.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy, who was born in 1933; “Bette Davis Eyes” singer Kim Carnes, who was born in 1945; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carlos Santana, who was born in 1947; Twisted Sister co-founder Jay Jay French, who was born in 1952; “Career Opportunities” star Frank Whaley, who was born in 1963; “The Crocodile Hunter” star Terri Irwin, who was born in 1964; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam), who was born in 1966; “Lost” star Josh Holloway, who was born in 1969; “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sandra Oh, who was born in 1971; “ER” star Omar Epps, who was born in Brooklyn in 1973; “Archer” star Judy Greer, who was born in 1975; supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who was born in 1980; “Dancing with the Stars” judge Julianne Hough, who was born in 1988; and 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, who was born in 1988.

Josh Holloway
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

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GOLD STANDARD: The first International Special Olympics Competition was held in Chicago on this day in 1968. Special Olympics is an international year-round program of sports training and competition for people with intellectual disabilities. More than 3.5 million athletes in more than 170 countries train and compete in 32 Olympic-style summer and winter sports. The event was founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

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LANDMARK LANDING: Man first landed on the moon on this day in 1969. U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed lunar module Eagle at 4:17 p.m. EDT and remained on the lunar surface 21 hours and 36 minutes. The landing was made from the Apollo 11’s orbiting command-and-service module, whose pilot, Michael Collins, remained aboard. Armstrong, who was the first to set foot on the moon, died in 2012. Collins died on April 28, 2021.

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

Quotable:

“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.”
— Alexander the Great, who was born on this day in 356 B.C.