November 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 15, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Dr. Booker T. Washington, leader of the Negro race in America, and president of the Tuskegee Institute, at Tuskegee, Alabama, died yesterday from hardening of the arteries at his home, near the institute, only a few hours after arriving there from New York City, where he had been under treatment in St. Luke’s Hospital all last week … His funeral will be held on Wednesday morning from Tuskegee Institute, the school for Negroes which he founded, and for which he worked with unflagging zeal during all of his active career … Dr. Washington was born a slave on the plantation of a family named Burrows, at Hale’s Ford, Virginia, probably in April, 1858. He did not know the exact date of his birth, for in those days records were seldom kept of the birth of slave children, and all he knew about it was what he could gather from hearsay in after years.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “The new Madison Square Garden, which is being constructed at 8th Ave. and 50th St., Manhattan, is rapidly nearing completion, and plans for the grand opening have been completed. The initial event will serve to reintroduce ice hockey to the New York public, after a lapse of some years, and will bring together the 1925 world’s champions, the Canadiens of Montreal, and the newly assembled team representing the New York Hockey Club, in an international match. This opening game will be held on Dec. 15 and will be a benefit for the Neurological Institute … The New York Hockey Club will be a member of the seven-club international league which will include representatives of Ottawa, which won the world’s championship in 1920, 1921 and 1923; Montreal, Toronto, the Canadiens of Montreal, who won the world’s championship in 1925; Boston and Pittsburgh.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “TOKYO (U.P.) — U.S. Marines reached the shores of the Chosin power reservoir — one of the great prizes of the North Korean campaign — yesterday, to find that its Chinese defenders had fled. But the Chinese were striking back hard in the west, forcing the South Korean 8th Division into a four-mile retreat. A motorized patrol of the Marine 7th Regiment, led by Regimental Comm. Col. Homer L. Litzenberg, Jr. of Philadelphia, reached the shores of the Chosin at 4 p.m. (2 a.m. Brooklyn time), and a half hour later troops began scrambling onto high ground commanding the southern tip of the artificial lake. ‘We’ve come a long way to look at this,’ said Litzenberg, pointing across the reservoir … The Chosin, supplying the bulk of North Korea’s hydroelectric power, had been defended bitterly by the Chinese, apparently to give them time to dismantle the power equipment. The Marines several days ago overran heavy crates of equipment the Chinese had not had time to remove.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Harris J. Klein, Brooklyn member of the Transit Authority, tossed a bombshell into the authority’s hearing today on proposed service cuts in Brooklyn surface lines with the charge that his colleagues railroaded through adoption of the curtailment in one hour — without benefit of surveys or studies. Klein, who was challenged by Transit Authority Chairman Hugh J. Casey, accused the members of ‘callous and complete disregard of public welfare.’ Casey opened the hearing with the threat that another fare increase could be in the offing ‘unless all potential economies and improved efficiencies are effected.’ Before the chairman could turn over the meeting to Harold L. Warner, T.A. general counsel, Klein asked for the floor and made his charges. To substantiate his accusation, Klein waved a photostatic copy of a portion of the proceedings of Sept. 16 in regard to the curtailment of service report filed by James B. Edmunds, assistant general superintendent in charge of bus operations. The copy was stamped, ‘Action taken — approved’ and signed by the department secretary and Mr. Warner. Casey, red with anger, rose to deny the charges. Klein’s remarks about the Edmunds report, he said, were ‘absolutely incorrect.’ He said the authority voted only to ‘accept’ the report.”

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Shailene Woodley
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Convoy” singer C.W. McCall, who was born in 1926; “Downtown” singer Petula Clark, who was born in 1932; “The Parent Trap” star Joanna Barnes, who was born in 1934; “Law & Order” star Sam Waterston, who was born in 1940; “The Shawshank Redemption” star Bob Gunton, who was born in 1945; “Vacation” star Beverly D’Angelo, who was born in 1951; “Animal House” star James Widdoes, who was born in 1953; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Michael Hampton (Parliament-Funkadelic), who was born in 1956; former Tonight Show Band leader Kevin Eubanks, who was born in 1957; “The Craft” star Rachel True, who was born in 1966; former N.Y. Knicks point guard Greg Anthony, who was born in 1967; Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger, who was born in 1974; “NCIS” star Sean Murray, who was born in 1977; model Lily Aldridge, who was born in 1985; “The Fallout” star Shailene Woodley, who was born in 1991; and swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Blake Pieroni, who was born in 1995.

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WIT AND WISDOM: Franklin P. Adams was born on this day in 1881. The Chicago native is known for his newspaper column “The Conning Tower” and for his radio appearances on “Information Please,” but his most famous work is the poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon,” a tribute to the Chicago Cubs’ double play combo of “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” He died in 1960.

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FOUNDER’S DAY: President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1939. The memorial honors Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the U.S. It was officially dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.

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

Quotable:

“Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.”

— columnist Franklin P. Adams, who was born on this day in 1881