July 27: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 27, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI — The revolutionary movement against President [Vilbrun] Guillaume, which broke out under the leadership of Dr. Rosalvo Bobo last March, showed itself in Port au Prince today. After several hours of fighting at the presidential residence, where Guillaume made a courageous defense against the revolutionists, the president took refuge in the French Legation, whither he had been preceded by the members of his family.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “There will be no ‘Heil, Hitler’ or Nazi salutes at the American camp in the Olympic Village in Berlin, the athletes from the United States have specifically requested. On the first day in camp the Americans didn’t know how to reply to the greetings, which peeved the Germans. Now both sides fling up their arms in a rough military salute.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “The powerful Brooklyn Democratic organization pledged itself to a war on crime and misconduct this afternoon as its leaders, in a slate-making session at 4-5 Court Square, named a county ticket headed by County Judge William O’Dwyer for district attorney. Judge O’Dwyer, one-time policeman who rose from the ranks to become a member of the judiciary, was named as the party’s candidate to succeed District Attorney William F.X. Geoghan, who was not redesignated. The slate designated by the leaders in the executive meeting in their Jefferson Building headquarters was announced immediately by Frank V. Kelly, the party’s county leader. ‘I doubt that our party has ever named a candidate who will have a stronger appeal to all the people of Brooklyn, irrespective of party,’ leader Kelly said in telling of Judge O’Dwyer’s selection. ‘Judge O’Dwyer’s nomination is the answer to any critic bold enough to say that the Democratic Party in this county condones misconduct of any kind in any place. With Judge O’Dwyer as district attorney, the people of Brooklyn will be certain that all criminals will be promptly pursued and vigorously prosecuted and the law enforced without fear or favor.’”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “HAVANA (U.P.) — The 21 American republics virtually adopted a ‘declaration of Havana’ today which will regulate the future of orphaned European colonies in the New World. United States Secretary of State [Cordell] Hull was credited with having formulated and obtained agreement on a declaration which will state firmly that the Western Hemisphere remains isolated from European and Far Eastern wars and will not tolerate Nazi-Fascist-Communist political or economic inroads. The declaration is a compromise between a United States plan for a ‘collective trusteeship’ over the possessions of Great Britain, France and The Netherlands in this hemisphere — one that would have established a hemispheric mandate over the colonies — and the ‘wait and see’ attitude of Argentina, which wanted no action until the colonies actually were threatened.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “PANMUNJOM (U.P.) — The first full-scale war between the free world and Communism ended today in a straw mat house in the middle of the Korean no-man’s land. The signing of the Korean armistice by United Nations and Communist representatives ended more than two years of frustrating negotiations … The next chapter will be written at the forthcoming post-truce conference. Where or who will write the third chapter, no one knows. Whether the Allies won or lost the peace is still to be learned. But in the past 24 months they carved out an armistice from a rock-hard block of Red delay, inconsistency, stubbornness and falsehood. The main obstacles included prisoner repatriation and cease-fire line, selection of neutral nation commissions to umpire the cease-fire, the question of foreign troop withdrawals from Korea and arrangements for the high-level political meeting aimed at establishing a permanent peace in Korea.”

***

Maya Rudolph
MingleMediaTVNetwork/Wikimedia Commons

Alex Rodriguez
Arturo Pardavila III/Wikimedia Commons

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “All in the Family” creator Norman Lear, who was born in 1922; “Knots Landing” star John Pleshette, who was born in 1942; “Ode to Billie Joe” singer Bobbie Gentry, who was born in 1942; “Hill Street Blues” star Betty Thomas, who was born in 1947; figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Peggy Fleming, who was born in 1948; “The Morning After” singer Maureen McGovern, who was born in 1949; “Chicago Hope” star Roxanne Hart, who was born in 1952; comedian and writer Carol Leifer, who was born in 1956; “Charmed” star Julian McMahon, who was born in 1968; former “Saturday Night Live” star Maya Rudolph, who was born in 1972; former Yankee and three-time American League MVP Alex Rodriguez, who was born in 1975; three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, who was born in 1984; and golf champion Jordan Spieth, who was born in 1993.

Julian McMahon
Danny Casillas/Wikimedia Commons

***

ACROSS THE SEA: The Atlantic Telegraph cable was laid on this day in 1866. Having started from Valentia, Ireland on July 7, 1866, the Great Eastern steamship successfully laid a submarine cable at Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, Canada. This cable provided transatlantic communication and followed almost-successful efforts in 1858 and 1865.

***

NEVER FORGET: The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1995. More than 36,000 Americans died in the war, which was fought from June 1950 to July 1953. Of these, 8,200 are listed as missing in action or lost or buried at sea.

***

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

Quotable:

“It was Brooklyn against the world. They were not only complete fanatics, but they knew baseball like the fans of no other city. It was exciting to play there.”

— Baseball Hall of Famer Leo Durocher, who was born on this day in 1905