August 3: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 3, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1921, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “CHICAGO — None of the American League players who were acquitted last night of an alleged criminal conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series has any immediate prospect of being restored to organized baseball, according to a statement issued today by Judge K.M. Landis, national baseball commissioner. ‘Regardless of the verdict of juries,’ said the statement, ‘no player that throws a ball game, no player that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing games are discussed, and does not tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I do not know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is entirely competent to protect itself against the crooks both inside and outside the game.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (A.P.) — Off the mark fast and moving into the lead after the first ten meters, Jesse Owens today won the Olympic 100-meter sprint championship, achieving the first of three gold medals he has set as his goal in the 11th Olympiad. The brown Ohio bullet, a top-heavy favorite from the start of yesterday’s preliminaries in the sprint feature, for the second time in as many days equaled the Olympic and world record of 10.3 seconds in capturing the title. Ralph Metcalfe, husky Chicago Negro flyer, finished a yard and one-half behind Owens. Metcalfe was timed in 10.4 seconds. Two American Negroes thus ran one-two in their second straight Olympics, dominating the event from the start to finish, each winning his semi-final heat and then fighting it out in the final. In 1932 Metcalfe also was a close second to Eddie Tolan, Detroit Negro, in the final.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle said, “The Health Department reported 58 new polio cases today, 28 of them in Brooklyn, which also had two deaths during the 24-hour period ending at 9 a.m. These were the city’s only deaths from polio. The total number of cases since the first of the year in the city is now 466. The figure varies, it was explained by a spokesman at the department, because some cases originally diagnosed as polio were not that disease. There have been 36 deaths from polio in the city since Jan. 1. The days breakdown by boroughs is as follows: Manhattan, 10; the Bronx, 10; Brooklyn, 28; Queens, 9; and Richmond, 1. By health districts, the Brooklyn total is apportioned thus: Bay Ridge, 7; Brownsville, 2; Bushwick, 2; Flatbush, 4; Fort Greene, 5; Gravesend, 2; Red Hook, 2; Sunset Park, 2; and Williamsburg-Greenpoint, 2.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Police Commissioner Francis W.H. Adams promised today that ‘trouble spots’ in Brooklyn will shortly receive the same attention as Times Square, where cops are rooting out hoodlums and other undesirable characters. The commissioner, who warned Sunday that crime and violence are mounting steadily in the city, would not tip his hand on where the police will launch their Brooklyn drive. It appeared likely, however, that Coney Island and the downtown section — both ‘bright lights’ areas like Times Square — would get high priority. Mayor [Robert] Wagner, meanwhile, disclosed his administration is trying to find ways of increasing the number of cops and raising their salaries. Adams, who met with the mayor and representatives of police line organizations yesterday, had said the department was woefully undermanned and underpaid. Adams said he was aware that Brooklyn had its critical areas, just as do the other boroughs. ‘We are doing the best we can with what we have to clean them up,’ he told the Brooklyn Eagle. ‘Of course, it must be understood that any action taken must be done swiftly without warning. So we cannot divulge the locations.’”

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Evangeline Lilly
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Isaiah Washington
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pro Football Hall of Famer Marv Levy, who was born in 1925; “Rags to Riches” singer Tony Bennett, who was born in 1926; “The West Wing” star Martin Sheen, who was born in 1940; businesswoman and TV personality Martha Stewart, who was born in 1941; “Animal House” director John Landis, who was born in 1950; “Dennis the Menace” star Jay North, who was born in 1951; “Scrubs” star John C. McGinley, who was born in 1959; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Hetfield (Metallica), who was born in 1963; “The 100” star Isaiah Washington, who was born in 1963; Salt-N-Pepa member DJ Spinderella, who was born in Brooklyn in 1970; seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who was born in 1977; “Ant-Man and the Wasp” star Evangeline Lilly, who was born in 1979; and fashion model Karlie Kloss, who was born in 1992.

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BEYOND THE SEA: Christopher Columbus’ first voyage began on this day in 1492. The “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” set sail half an hour before sunrise from Palos, Spain, with three ships, Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, and a crew of 90. He sailed for “Cathay” (China) but found instead a New World of the Americas, first landing at Guanahani (San Salvador Island in the Bahamas) on Oct. 12.

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TEAMWORK: On this day in 1949, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League completed a merger that created the National Basketball Association, which consisted of 17 teams. Today the NBA has 30 teams in 28 cities.

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

Quotable:

“I played a crooked game and I have lost.”
— Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte, who, along with seven teammates, was permanently banned from baseball 100 years ago today.