February 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 2, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published a letter to the editor which said, “Kindly permit me to express my sincerest appreciation of your fair, true and eloquent editorial on the nomination of Mr. [Louis] Brandeis to the Supreme Court by President Woodrow Wilson. The president, in nominating Mr. Brandeis, fully demonstrated his sympathy for the working men and women, whose faithful advocate Mr. Brandeis is. The question of race should not be tolerated. It has been my pleasure for many years, in business and public office, to associate with Jews, and I say, without hesitation, that, although being what is now termed a hyphenated American — an Irishman born — I found my Jewish associates to be sincere, sympathetic and honorable. I am proud of Mr. Wilson’s action and hope for a speedy confirmation of Mr. Brandeis’ appointment. — W.H. Downes, Brooklyn.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “TOKYO (U.P.) — Russia has 60 or 70 submarines operating in the western Pacific, Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, U.S. chief of naval operations, said today. Admiral Sherman made the announcement shortly after he disclosed that the United States plans to build up its naval strength in the area. ‘Russia has 270 to 280 submarines, and about one-fourth of them are in the Pacific, we believe,’ Sherman told a press conference. Asked to comment on reports that the Russians were shipping parts overland and assembling the subs at Vladivostok, Sherman replied, ‘It is possible.’ Earlier, at a press conference held by all four members of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Sherman said the history of two world wars shows the submarine threat is ‘very real.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (U.P.) — Secretary of State John Foster Dulles today rejected Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav M. Molotov’s new peace plan for Germany and called on him to ‘end foolish chatter’ and get down to serious negotiations. ‘We urge that Mr. Molotov agree to create quickly by all-German elections a German government that can genuinely speak for all of Germany and thus provide the indispensable basis for a peace that will last because it will be a peace of consent,’ Secretary Dulles said. Speaking at the eighth session of the Big Four Foreign Ministers conference, Mr. Dulles replied for the West to the ‘Molotov cocktail’ which the Soviet delegate exploded yesterday. The so-called Molotov plan was based on ideas completely unacceptable to the United States, Great Britain and France. Mr. Dulles charged that, in his plan, Molotov, ‘sought to divert us from the serious discussion of this urgent (German) topic by injecting a series of charges against the United States, Great Britain and France, which he claimed are trying to form a military bloc directed against the Soviet Union.’ ‘I will not take time at this conference to reject these charges in detail,’ Secretary Dulles said. ‘There is nothing new in them. They have been refuted time after time, year after year.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “MIAMI BEACH (UPI) — National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle said yesterday he was unable to pinpoint any date for a final report on the league’s investigation of alleged gambling influences in pro football. ‘Our investigation to date has developed no evidence of acts of a criminal nature,’ Rozelle said at the windup of the NFL winter meetings here. It was a reiteration of what he has said for the past month, since the probe was disclosed. ‘Certain allegations have been made involving a number of people. We are continuing to explore all aspects of every matter we are investigating. When we have assembled all the facts that we can find, we will make an announcement,’ Rozelle said.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include comedian Tom Smothers, who was born in 1937; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash, who was born in 1942; “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star Brent Spiner, who was born in 1949; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ross Valory (Journey), who was born in 1949; model and actress Christie Brinkley, who was born in 1954; “Guiding Light” star Kim Zimmer, who was born in 1955; “The Pretender” star Michael T. Weiss, who was born in 1962; “Rescue Me” star Adam Ferrara, who was born in 1966; former NBA forward Sean Elliott, who was born in 1968; former NFL wide receiver Donald Driver, who was born in 1975; “Hips Don’t Lie” singer Shakira, who was born in 1977; “Haven” star Emily Rose, who was born in 1981; “Clash of the Titans” star Gemma Arterton, who was born in 1986; and “Girls” star Zosia Mamet, who was born in 1988.

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DUTCH TREAT: New York City was born on this day in 1653 when the magistrates of the Dutch colony on Manhattan Island signed a municipal charter making New Amsterdam a city. When the English took over in 1664, the city was renamed in honor of James, the Duke of York.

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HALLOWED HALL: The Baseball Hall of Fame announced its five charter members on this day in 1936. Of 226 ballots cast, Ty Cobb was named on 222, Babe Ruth on 215, Honus Wagner on 215, Christy Mathewson on 205 and Walter Johnson on 189. A total of 170 votes were necessary for election.

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

Quotable:

“You want a friend who’s going to tell you the truth. That’s what it’s about.”

— former NFL wide receiver Donald Driver, who was born on this day in 1975