February 4: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 4, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “PARIS — Complete withdrawal by the Allies from Russia may follow a grave study of the situation there by the ‘Big Five,’ and it is possible that this action may be taken at an early date whether the Prinkipo Conference succeeds or fails. It is more and more evident daily that a definite declaration of the Allied Russian policy cannot be long delayed because of the increasing serious position of the American troops and those of the Allies, and demands in both England and America that the expeditionary forces be removed. The ‘Big Five’ is working hard to reach an agreement, with France still strongly opposed to withdrawal, but all the powers are coming to recognize the necessity for harmony on the Russian issue. Any open division on that question would threaten the whole peace conference and the League of Nations, and will not be permitted. In the event of the Prinkipo meeting being successful, withdrawal by the Allies will follow as a matter of course. If it proves a failure, withdrawal seems inevitable because the military position of the Allied forces, now untenable, will become steadily worse. Increasing worry in regard to the plight of the American and other troops is hastening the work of trying to formulate a policy. Although an Allied withdrawal would be hailed as a big victory for the Bolsheviki, and might pave the way for their recognition, the ‘Big Five’ are apparently working toward the conclusion that withdrawal is inevitable.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “HELSINKI (A.P.) — Finland’s most terrific punishment by bombs in a little more than two months of Russian invasion was reported early today, with a total of 78 planes raiding one city alone and many other cities suffering deadly raids. First estimates of Saturday’s victims said at least 50 were killed and 100 wounded in the south half of Finland, but that was before the 78 planes, in three waves, made an evening attack on Kuopio, the second of the day. Kuopio, a railway city of some 10,000, is located in the great lake country of middle Finland. While these raids were going on, big guns of the Red army shelled the Mannerheim Line from one end to the other, after two days of direct attack had been broken on the battlefield of Summa.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW (U.P.) — Red Army troops attacked with increasing momentum today on a 180-mile Ukrainian front to develop three gigantic breaks through which they reached the 1941 winter line at two points and thrust into the heart of the Donets Basin 85 miles inside the Ukraine. Registering gains of from 28 to 54 miles, the Russians put their westernmost line more than 300 miles west of Stalingrad, where they started their historic winter offensive. Front dispatches reported they were starting a scythe-like sweep southwestward from the Kharkov-Moscow railroad which they had cut 30 miles north of the anchor-point of Kursk. On the North Caucasus front the Russians had cut the last railroad by which a German army anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 men could escape through Rostov and east of the railroad they were only 27 miles southeast of Rostov itself.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — The United States may have to demand that Russia remove its present forces from Cuba just as it demanded removal of offensive missiles and bombers, Sen. John C. Stennis said. The Mississippi Democrat heads the Senate preparedness subcommittee which is launching an investigation of the Soviet build-up in Cuba. He discussed the inquiry in a radio-television interview. Stennis said intelligence data suggests that the Russian build-up is designed, in part, to promote ‘blackmail,’ subversion, intimidation, threats of coercion, and even an invasion of these smaller countries of the Western Hemisphere. ‘Perhaps our time will come a little later, not first but last,’ the senator declared. ‘I want to get all the facts, but with this formidable strength, I think we must have a hard, firm policy about it — convince them we are going to be hard about it.’”

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Natalie Imbruglia
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Gabrielle Anwar
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former New York Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, who was born in 1939; 5th Dimension singer Florence LaRue, who was born in 1944; former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, who was born in 1947; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper, who was born in 1948; Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, who was born in 1951; New York Giants legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was born in 1959; “Burn Notice” star Gabrielle Anwar, who was born in 1970; “Hot Tub Time Machine” star Rob Corddry, who was born in 1971; boxer Oscar De La Hoya, who was born in 1973; “Torn” singer Natalie Imbruglia, who was born in 1975; “I Don’t Want to Be” singer Gavin DeGraw, who was born in 1977; and gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson, who was born in 1988.

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FRONT AND CENTER: Rosa Parks was born on this day in 1913. Parks was a seamstress in Montgomery, Ala., who was active with the NAACP. In 1955, when African-Americans were obligated by law to ride in the back of the bus, she refused to give up her seat to a white man during a ride home from work. She was arrested, found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined $14. This sparked the modern civil rights movement, leading to a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system, lawsuits and a Supreme Court decision decreeing segregation to be unconstitutional. Parks died in 2005 and is the only American woman to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

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WELCOME NEWS: The United Service Organization was founded on this day in 1941. The civilian agency provides support worldwide for U.S. service people and their families. USO centers have served as a home away from home for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

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

Quotable:

“No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

— civil rights leader Rosa Parks, who was born on this day in 1913