Brooklyn Boro

December 6: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

December 6, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The first full day of repeal found New York as a whole heavily under-supplied in the way of legal alcoholic beverages, and Brooklyn, in particular, just about as dry as when Amendment No. 18 was still law. Hurried inquiries this morning among Brooklyn’s leading hotels and restaurants brought the information that practically none of them had any supplies on hand. Late receipt of their licenses and the slow distribution of alcoholics was responsible. Of the downtown hotels, only the St. George reported a small supply of champagne on hand. In Flatbush, Oetjen’s restaurant had ‘a big night’ last night, but the supplies were now exhausted. Others had not received their licenses until this morning.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “NANKING (U.P.) — Seventeen Japanese bombing planes dropped tons of explosives on the Nanking waterfront today not far from where the American gunboat Panay waited with steam up to remove Americans from the capital. A majority of the Americans fled ashore to places of greater safety. According to unconfirmed reports, the Japanese army captured the Purple Mountain in the suburbs of Nanking, on whose wooded slope rests the ashes of Sun Yat-Sen, ‘Father of the Republic,’ in a three-million dollar mausoleum.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “Japan renewed bitter attacks on the United States through officially approved statements today, declaring that efforts of ‘hostile powers’ to hamper creation of a new order in East Asia would be repulsed and that the next move for war or peace was up to President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. ‘We Japanese are tensely watching whether Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill commit the epochal crime of further extending world upheaval,’ Lt. Gen. Teiichi Suzuki, minister without portfolio and president of the Cabinet Planning Board, told a meeting of the East Asia Economic Council. ‘Japan’s patience would no longer be necessary in event the countries hostile to peace in East Asia — countries whose identities are now absolutely clear — attempt to continue to increase disturbances in the Far East.’ At Manila, the Philippines Cabinet took emergency measures including preliminary evacuation of danger zones, suspension of non-essential construction to supply funds for defense and canceled inauguration plans for President [Manuel] Quezon.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “NASHVILLE, TENN. (UPI) — A young man who said he ‘had a vision’ about killing James Hoffa rushed today into federal court where the Teamsters union chief was on trial and fired pellets at him from an air gun. Hoffa, who knocked his assailant down, was hit several times in the arm and back by the small lead pellets but was not injured. U.S. marshals helped the chunky Hoffa beat him to the floor again. The man was taken from the courtroom handcuffed and bleeding. The man was identified as Warren Swanson of Washington. U.S. Marshal Elmer Disspayne said Swanson told him that he ‘had a vision’ about a month ago to come here and kill Hoffa. ‘I saw the gun as he ran up and I jumped up and knocked the S.O.B. down,’ Hoffa said. ‘He’s just some jerk.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “The first base job at Yankee Stadium is wide open and manager Ralph Houk thinks Joe Pepitone is ready to fill Bill Skowron’s shoes. Brooklyn born and bred, Pepitone was a star performer with the Nathan’s Famous sandlot open team when he was signed to a Yankee bonus contract four years ago. He also played for John Jay H.S. as an outfielder and pitcher. The 22-year-old Pepitone, who showed flashes of brilliance early last season with the Yankees, has been given the first crack at first base, held down for nine years by the slugging Skowron. Skowron was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers recently for righthanded pitcher Stan Williams. ‘We believe Pepitone is ready to take over first base,’ says Houk. ‘His development at Richmond makes him the No. 1 contender for the job and allowed us to trade away Skowron for the pitching strength we needed. If Pepitone doesn’t make it, then we have Dale Long or Hector Lopez.’”

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CoCo Vandeweghe
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Judd Apatow
Vince Bucci/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include baseball player and manager Larry Bowa, who was born in 1945; “Poltergeist” star JoBeth Williams, who was born in 1948; “Amadeus” star Tom Hulce, who was born in 1953; comedian Steven Wright, who was born in 1955; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Peter Buck (R.E.M.), who was born in 1956; filmmaker Judd Apatow, who was born in 1967; “Stargate Atlantis” star Torri Higginson, who was born in 1969; former Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who was born in 1970; baseball player Adam Eaton, who was born in 1988; and tennis player CoCo Vandeweghe, who was born in 1991.

Steven Wright
Lawrence Jackson/AP

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WE THE PEOPLE: The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on this day in 1865, abolishing slavery in the U.S. It reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

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THE ’60s ARE OVER: Disaster struck at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California, on this day in 1969. A free concert for 300,000 fans, featuring performances by the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young turned tragic thanks to overcrowding, drug overdoses and the fatal stabbing of a spectator by a member of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, which had been hired to provide security for the event.

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

 

Quotable:

“Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.”

— comedian Steven Wright, who was born on this day in 1955

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