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February 23: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 23, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Brooklyn has the distinction of having the largest Naval medical supply depot in the United States, and probably the best known Naval medical depot in the world, considering its far-reaching influence, during the world war. The health of every person wearing the blue of Uncle Sam’s Navy was the constant study of Capt. R.P. Crandall and his staff, quartered in the handsome new structure located at Pearl and Sands Sts., which was completed the latter part of July. Although the staff moved into the new building before the final touches were given to the structure, the regular deliveries continued and supplies were promptly sent to ships and Navy hospitals here and abroad. That the death rate in the Navy during the epidemic of influenza was lower than that in the Army, in proportion to its enrollment, was due largely to the enterprise and efficiency in the Brooklyn depot. The demands placed upon the depot through those trying months were adequately met, although its officers and men worked night and day to keep supplies in constant flow to the hospitals and ships.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “A child’s overactivity is not a sign he is a little dynamo physically, as parents believe, but a danger signal. Studies of such children, showing that physical causes were not chiefly responsible, were reported to the American Orthopsychiatric Association in Manhattan today by Dr. Asher T. Childers, psychiatrist at the Central Clinic, Cincinnati. Overactivity, he said, should be regarded as a symptom and not as a disease. It appears in about 10 percent of children admitted to child guidance clinics. It reveals itself in such things as over-talkativeness, boastfulness, distraction, attention-seeking and restless sleep. More rarely as fighting, destructiveness and cruelty. The real source seems to be emotional. Dr. Childers found four causes: ‘First, frequent home changes resulting in inefficient training in necessary inhibitions. Second, inadequate, inconsistent and otherwise faulty management allowing escape from restraints. Third, prolonged over-stimulation such as late hours, irregular eating, too many movies, etc. Fourth, feelings of insecurity, chiefly the lack of a sense of belonging to any personal relationship, such as in family, school or neighborhood.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “COPENHAGEN (A.P.) — A British-French warship squadron began today a blockade of the northern Russian coast, the newspaper Berlingske Tidene reported, while unconfirmable rumors circulated that a clash with the Soviet Arctic Navy already had been precipitated. The paper said the Allied ships were strung out for a considerable distance along the Arctic coast to prevent shipment of Russian supplies to Germany and to halt any possible attempt to deliver Russian submarines to the Germany Navy. Presence of Allied vessels in that Far Northern vicinity was confirmed yesterday. Aside from blocking trade between Germany and her friend, Russia, the British and French were described as aiming to prevent any German ships from taking refuge in Russia — as a number of merchant-men did in the early days of the war.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Reliable underground sources in Cuba report that Soviet attack forces there include 60 FROG rockets equipped with nuclear warheads; 190 MiG jet fighters able to carry nuclear bombs as far as 700 miles; and a number of long-range bombers that have been concealed underground since before President Kennedy announced the Cuban crisis to the American public. Total Soviet armed forces number 35,000 combat troops, military technicians and advisers, under the command of Russian Gen. C.O. Slazenko, these sources say. On Tuesday, the White House announced that Soviet Chairman Khrushchev offered to remove ‘several thousand’ of his men from Cuba. At the same time, the administration estimated there were only 17,000 Soviet troops there.”

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Emily Blunt
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
D’Angelo Russell
Craig Lassig/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pro Football Hall of Famer Jackie Smith, who was born in 1940; former N.Y. Mets second baseman Ron Hunt, who was born in 1941; former NFL defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones, who was born in 1951; “Home Improvement” star Patricia Richardson, who was born in 1951; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), who was born in 1952; “No One is to Blame” singer Howard Jones, who was born in 1955; Queensryche co-founder Michael Wilton, who was born in 1962; former N.Y. Mets outfielder Bobby Bonilla, who was born in 1963; political commentator S.E. Cupp, who was born in 1979; “Master of None” star Aziz Ansari, who was born in 1983; “A Quiet Place” star Emily Blunt, who was born in 1983; and former Brooklyn Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell, who was born in 1996.

Aziz Ansari
Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

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BANNER DAY: U.S. Marines raised the American flag on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima on this day in 1945. Nearly 20,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives before the island was finally taken from the Japanese a month later.

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ALLIED FORCES: The ground war in Operation Desert Storm began on this day in 1991. After an air campaign lasting slightly more than a month, the allies launched their offensive against Iraqi forces, which had invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

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

 

Quotable:

“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.”

— author W.E.B. Du Bois, who was born on this day in 1868


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