January 12: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 12, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s new police commander, Deputy Chief Inspector Edward A. Bracken, was tuning up his force for a finish fight on gambling and vice today as Deputy Chief David J. McAuliffe, in command of Manhattan, opened his offensive against the same crimes. Appointed two days earlier than Bracken, McAuliffe has had an opportunity to complete his organization so that at the stroke of last midnight he was able to lead a raiding squad against a dice game operated by Billy Warren at 182 3rd Ave., Manhattan. McAuliffe personally swung the ax which battered down the door at the entrance to the second-story loft, where 49 men were grouped around a dice table over which the cubes had clicked heretofore comparatively immune from police interference. The 49 prisoners were taken away in three patrol wagons. Warren, well known to the Broadway sporting element, was not among them. Warren’s game is said to be one of the largest ‘floating crap games’ in the city.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Sgt. Irving Strobing, the Brooklyn hero who tapped out the last radio message from Corregidor, and Sgt. Arnold Lappert, the Brooklyn radio operator who picked up the message on Oahu, have finally met, nearly four years after that memorable event. And the first thing the boys did was to sit down to a chocolate ice cream soda! They met at the headquarters of the Jewish War Veterans of America in the Hotel Plymouth, 143 W. 49th St., Manhattan, yesterday when plans were announced for a historical pageant and all-star show at Madison Square Garden on March 4. The two GIs will appear in the show, re-enacting their famous roles. The ice cream soda was part of the debt which the nation owes Strobing, according to Sergeant Lappert. He told the story: ‘When I got Strobing’s last message, the general grabbed it right off. Then Irving kept radioing that the tunnels were covered with the blood of the wounded and said he’d give his right arm and all the money in his pockets for a chocolate ice cream soda.’ So Isidore Ginsberg, New York Department commander of the J.W.V., promptly ordered a luscious foaming soda and the two heroes, sticking their straws in the same glass, quickly drained it dry.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [William] O’Dwyer’s decision to postpone indefinitely construction of the Civic Center in the Borough Hall area has brought immediate reappraisal of long-discussed plans by Brooklyn leaders. Uncertain of the effect the mayor’s startling announcement would have on their future work, borough civic, judicial, real estate, welfare and library interests were trying to digest the news before issuing any definite statements of action. When the mayor’s decision on the Civic Center was first made known at a closed meeting of jurists and other officials interested in the new Supreme Court building, he spoke critically of some phases of the preliminary work that had been done, the Eagle learned. … The Brooklyn Eagle, on hearing rumors of the new delay, submitted a direct question on the subject to the mayor. Mr. O’Dwyer, yesterday afternoon, confirmed the report, declaring: ‘Brooklyn will have to wait for its Civic Center improvements until we have the money for the project.’ Clarifying his new stand, he added that the city is in need of new schools and that he felt that children must take precedence over center buildings. ‘I feel there is greater need for schools at this time,’ he said.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Cases ranging from simple assault to A.B.C. violations today claimed the attention of the man who once handled the major problems of a city of eight million people. Ex-Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri spent his first day on the Special Sessions bench here in Brooklyn yesterday after he had been appointed to the $19,000 a year judicial post by Mayor Robert Wagner. Loud and outraged cries of ‘deal’ raised at the time of his appointment seemed to have no effect on the calm judicial manner of the new Special Sessions justice from Brooklyn. Justice Impellitteri reported that he was very happy in his new post even though he had to wade through the record snowfall to reach the Criminal Courts Building from the Towers Hotel, where he said he is now residing.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include magician Kreskin, who was born in 1935; “Goldfinger” star Shirley Eaton, who was born in 1937; “Brideshead Revisited” star Anthony Andrews, who was born in 1948; “Cheers” star Kirstie Alley, who was born in 1951; former NFL wide receiver Drew Pearson, who was born in 1951; country singer Ricky Van Shelton, who was born in 1952; “Devil in a Blue Dress” author Walter Mosley, who was born in 1952; radio host Howard Stern, who was born in 1954; “The Bronx is Burning” star Oliver Platt, who was born in 1960; Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, who was born in 1960; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who was born in 1964; singer-songwriter Rob Zombie, who was born in 1965; “Insecure” star Issa Rae, who was born in 1985; and former One Direction singer Zayn Malik, who was born in 1993.

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UNDERDOG IS HERE: The New York Jets won Super Bowl III on this day in 1969, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, 16-7. Quarterback Joe Namath was the game’s Most Valuable Player. It was a great time to be a New Yorker at Baltimore’s expense. In October 1969 the Mets defeated the Orioles in the World Series, and in May 1970 the Knicks beat the Bullets in the NBA Finals.

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TO THE RESCUE: On this day in 1991, Congress passed a resolution authorizing President George H.W. Bush to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait, which was invaded on Aug. 2, 1990. It was the sixth congressional vote in U.S. history declaring war or authorizing force on another nation.

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

Quotable:

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

— statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, who was born on this day in 1729