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September 1: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 1, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Parochial schools in the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Long Island will open a week late, on Sept. 21, Mons. Joseph V.S. McClancy, superintendent of schools of the diocese, announced today. This announcement followed the postponement of opening of city schools until Sept. 22, eight days after schedule. Decision to defer city school opening was made by Health Commissioner [Shirley] Wynne after conference with school officials because of the prevalence of infantile paralysis. Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, falls on Sept. 21. For this reason, city schools will open on the day following. Today Commissioner Wynne appealed to parents not to let their children ‘run wild in the streets’ during the delay in school opening. If this is done, it would ‘be better’ to have the children in classrooms ‘where our doctors can examine them,’ he declared. Postponement of city school opening affects 1,150,000, and in the Brooklyn diocese, 125,000 pupils. This delay will not cause the school session to run into next July, said Dr. George J. Ryan, president of the Board of Education. There is sufficient time between September and the end of next June to catch up the eight days, he indicated. Thirty-six thousand teachers and administrators of city schools will have to report on schedule, however. They will be required to attend forums until classes are resumed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [Jimmy] Walker will decide today whether or not he will bolt the public hearing before Governor [Franklin] Roosevelt and resign from office. Early this afternoon there appeared to be a 50-50 chance that Tammany’s No. 1 man would retire from the ring with a cry of foul because of Roosevelt’s apparent intention to conduct the hearing according to his own views and not those of Supreme Court Justice Ellis J. Staley. One thing is certain: If Walker withdraws from the removal proceedings in Albany, his resignation will be forthcoming. It is also true that he will at once commence battle for the designation this Fall to fill the remainder of his unexpired term. Walker, still worn and haggard but somewhat refreshed by two days in bed, was at his apartment in the Mayfair House, Manhattan, this morning, awaiting the hour for the funeral of his brother, George F. Walker, who died Monday at Saranac Lake. After the funeral, Walker returned to the Mayfair House for a conference with his counsel, John J. Curtin, and then and there his course of action will be determined.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “SHANGHAI (A.P.) — Japanese naval authorities warned all foreign shipping today to steer clear of the Japanese naval concentrations in the Whangpoo River and the Yangtse estuary, the only route to safety for hundreds of American women and children marooned in war-torn Shanghai. United States and British naval commanders were understood to be discussing inauguration of naval convoys to force a safe passage down the river for American and British mercy ships evacuating refugees. Under the proposed plan, warship escorts would resist forcibly any attempts to molest foreign shipping. Although Washington has invested Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, commander in chief of the United States Asiatic fleet, with wide discretionary powers, it was thought the plan would be referred to President [Franklin] Roosevelt before being put into effect. The Japanese naval authorities further announced that developments might compel their fleet to take stringent action to stop shipments of arms and munitions to China from foreign nations … The question of providing naval escorts to guarantee the safe passage of refugee ships was brought to the fore by the bombardment Monday of the liner President Hoover by Chinese warplanes. The Hoover, flagship of the Dollar Line, was en route to Shanghai to pick up refugees. Admiral Yarnell, however, immediately ordered her to pass up the war-stricken city and shortly afterward issued a joint order with Consul General Clarence E. Gauss to all American shipping to stay away from Shanghai.”

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Gloria Estefan
Greg Allen/Invision/AP
Zendaya
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Grace and Frankie” star Lily Tomlin, who was born in 1939; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Barry Gibb (Bee Gees), who was born in 1946; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Greg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone), who was born in 1948; TV personality and author Phil McGraw, who was born in 1950; two-time NBA champion Vinnie Johnson, who was born in Brooklyn in 1956; Miami Sound Machine singer Gloria Estefan, who was born in 1957; five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, who was born in 1966; “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi, who was born in 1970; Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, who was born in 1974; “Felicity” star Scott Speedman, who was born in 1975; former N.Y. Ranger Mats Zuccarello, who was born in 1987; Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell, who was born in 1994; and “Spider-Man” star Zendaya, who was born in 1996.

Padma Lakshmi
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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FISH STORY: “The Old Man and the Sea” was published on this day in 1952. Ernest Hemingway’s novel about a Cuban fisherman’s battle with a giant marlin won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

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BURIED TREASURE: The Titanic was found on this day in 1985. Seventy-three years after it sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg, it was located by a joint American-French expedition force led by marine geologist Dr. Robert Ballard. The luxury liner was resting on the ocean floor 12,500 feet down — about 250 miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. In July 1986, Ballard returned in an expedition aboard the Atlantis II to explore the ship with underwater robots. Two memorial bronze plaques were left on the deck.

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

 

Quotable:

“As an immigrant, I appreciate, far more than the average American, the liberties we have in this country.”

— singer Gloria Estefan, who was born on this day in 1957


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