February 10: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 10, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Brooklyn is entitled to two additional members of the House under the new apportionment ratio established in the bill which the House passed last night. The Senate will adopt the measure without question and the House for the next ten years will consist of 433 members. Brooklyn at the present time has six members in the House. Long Island, outside of Brooklyn, has one, and it shares, in addition, a small slice of a district that flows over into Manhattan. The ratio of representation under the new arrangement is one lawmaker for every 211,877 of population. The Borough of Brooklyn, under the last census, had a population in round numbers of 1,600,000. This will entitle the borough to eight members in the House.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “HELSINKI (AP) — The Red army’s massed offensive on the Karelian Isthmus was continued for the ninth successive day, the Finns reported tonight, but all assaults were thrown back with heavy losses. Russian infantry continued to attack with undiminished vigor and with heavy artillery and tank support, but nowhere were the Finnish lines broken, declared the high command. Tonight’s communique reported destruction yesterday of 32 enemy tanks, making a total of 72 destroyed or captured in two days. It also reported four Russian planes shot down. Although the heaviest assaults were on the Karelian Isthmus, where the Red army has made its main efforts to break through, the Finns reported that the Russians lost 800 men killed northeast of Lake Ladoga, site of another long-continued battle. The communique also announced that ‘according to confirmed reports, Colonel Borisoff, commanding the 11th Russian Division, was killed in fighting on Feb. 8.’ There were no further details and no indication why a colonel should have been in command of a division.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, an Eagle editorial said, “Queen Elizabeth of England faces a world in turmoil with great sources of spiritual sustenance at her command. They trace their origins to the luminous traditions of her country in times of triumph and disaster and to the inspiration of the faith and courage of many of its leaders. Conspicuous among them is the young Queen’s father and predecessor, George VI. In Prime Minister Churchill’s moving tribute to the dead monarch, there is appropriate emphasis on many virtues of character with which only those who stood near to him were familiar. All of Britain, however, was aware of his strong devotion ‘to the enduring honor of his country.’ It cannot fail to serve as a guide to his daughter, who takes up in a spirit of sorrow the burden of responsibility that is a part of her heritage. She comes to the throne at a crucial hour in history, when strength and courage must be summoned up to meet the perils of aggression, when predatory forces are in wait for a sign of weakness to strike and embroil the world in war.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara went to Congress last week to report on America’s military muscle. He was talking to the Kremlin as much as he was to the Congress. A copy of his report, 161 pages of detail on U.S. military power, was probably on the next plane to Moscow. It was no vague and heavily censored report. There probably was much more that he said in the closed-door privacy of the House Armed Services Committee. But what was released for all to see, including the Russians, was comprehensive, detailed and revealing. It told what military power we have; what we would use it for; and what we planned for the future. Does the Kremlin want to know about the U.S. Polaris missile submarines? It doesn’t have to hire a spy. Straight from the man who knows comes this information: Nine Polaris submarines are now at sea. They’re equipped with 144 long-range missiles carrying nuclear warheads. During the new fiscal year starting July 1, nine more will get to sea. They will be similarly equipped, making a total of 288 Polaris missiles at sea and ready for action.”

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Chloe Grace Moretz
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include soprano Leontyne Price, who was born in 1927; “Hart to Hart” star Robert Wagner, who was born in 1930; “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” singer Roberta Flack, who was born in 1937; swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz, who was born in 1950; “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, who was born in 1955; “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos, who was born in 1961; political commentator Glenn Beck, who was born in 1964; Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern, who was born in 1967; “Pitch Perfect” star Elizabeth Banks, who was born in 1974; Pro Football Hall of Famer Ty Law, who was born in 1974; “We’re the Millers” star Emma Roberts, who was born in 1991; and “Dark Shadows” star Chloe Grace Moretz, who was born in 1997.

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SELLING THE DRAMA: Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” debuted at Broadway’s Morosco Theater on this day in 1949. Directed by Elia Kazan, the play won six Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It starred Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and Cameron Mitchell.

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MAN VS. MACHINE: A computer won a chess tournament game for the first time on this day in 1996. IBM’s Deep Blue beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 34 moves, but Kasparov won the tournament, defeating the computer three times. Deep Blue could evaluate 200 million chess positions but was incapable of using artificial intelligence to learn.

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

Quotable:

“Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it.”

— singer Roberta Flack, who was born on this day in 1937