February 28: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 28, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Senator William M. Calder today made the following statement concerning the efforts of farmers of the country to repeal the daylight saving law: ‘I want to thank the Eagle and the other newspapers of the country for their splendid support of the Daylight Saving law, and for the effective way in which they have brought home to those interested in it the danger of its repeal. There is no doubt that the opposition to Daylight Saving is due entirely to the failure on the part of the farmer to adjust himself to changed conditions brought about by the enactment of this law last year, which has to a considerable degree inconvenienced some farmers; but it has been a tremendous benefit to the country as a whole, and should be continued.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “HELSINKI (U.P.) — Finnish politicians admitted today that Russia holds a powerful weapon in supplies of Soviet grain, which presumably would be cut off if the pact proposed by Generalissimo Josef Stalin were refused. Most political leaders agree that for this reason alone, Finland must send a delegation to Moscow to discuss the treaty of friendship and defense suggested by Stalin in a personal letter to President Juho K. Paasikivi. Without Soviet wheat, Finland would starve. It was understood the treaty first was mentioned when a Finnish Cabinet delegation visited Moscow last November. Soviet Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov said then that such a pact was of the greatest importance but members of the delegation demurred on grounds they were not authorized to discuss it. The proposed treaty is the main topic of conversation wherever Finns gather. Political leaders as well as the man in the street are opposed to a pact with Russia or any other country.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P) — The Eisenhower administration had a clear call from Congress today to condemn Russia before the United Nations for its terror campaign against Jews and other Iron Curtain minorities. There were reports the president might order the move soon in line with his effort to step up the psychological offensive against Communism. But a final decision apparently has not been made. The Senate voted 79 to 0 in favor of the protest late yesterday. It acted shortly after the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved Mr. Eisenhower’s resolution on Russian violation of secret agreements. U.S. diplomats said the administration’s strategy on the anti-Semitic campaign probably would be to try to get as many free nations as possible to join either in denouncing Russia verbally in the General Assembly or in pressing for a formal resolution of condemnation. In deciding what to do, however, State Department experts are said to be worried about angering the Arabs at the very moment the West is trying to draw them into the long-stalled Middle East defense organization.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW (UPI) — Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev warned today that a U.S. invasion of Cuba would be met by a Soviet thermonuclear attack that would crush the West the first day. But he coupled the warning with a hint of compromise on Berlin. Khrushchev extended the defense pledge to Red China, North Korea, North Vietnam, East Germany and all other Communist nations, although he acknowledged that the ‘imperialist camp is armed to the teeth.’ In an 87-minute radio-television election speech to the nation, Khrushchev said Soviet armed forces would ‘rout out’ the imperialists if they attack Cuba — an implication the Russians would fight on Cuban soil. ‘The president of the United States pledged himself not to attack Cuba and we agreed to withdraw strategic missiles and IL28 bombers from Cuba and did withdraw them,’ Khrushchev said. ‘But this does not mean that we have abandoned heroic Cuba to the big sharks of American imperialism. We gave the Cuban people our word, the word of a brother, that the Soviet Union would come to Cuba’s assistance and we shall not leave her in the hour of need.’”

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Bernadette Peters
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Gilbert Gottfried
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include architect Frank Gehry, who was born in 1929; actor and director Tommy Tune, who was born in 1939; International Motorsports Hall of Famer Mario Andretti, who was born in 1940; “Gilmore Girls” star Kelly Bishop, who was born in 1944; “The Jerk” star Bernadette Peters, who was born in 1948; Oscar-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl, who was born in 1948; comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who was born in Brooklyn in 1955; “The Bronx is Burning” star John Turturro, who was born in Brooklyn in 1957; “The Color Purple” star Rae Dawn Chong, who was born in 1961; “House” star Robert Sean Leonard, who was born in 1969; Hockey Hall of Famer Eric Lindros, who was born in 1973; “Heroes” star Ali Larter, who was born in 1976; “Anger Management” star Noureen DeWulf, who was born in 1984; and N.Y. Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who was born in 1988.

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THE WAR IS OVER, PART 1: The last episode of “M*A*S*H” was broadcast on this day in 1983. Based on the 1968 novel and the Oscar-winning 1970 feature film, the show premiered in 1972 and became one of the most beloved and honored TV series of all time. Concluding a run of 11 seasons and 255 episodes, the 2 1/2-hour finale was the most-watched TV show at that time, with 77 percent of all viewers — 125 million people — glued to their sets.

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THE WAR IS OVER, PART 2: The first Gulf War came to an end on this day in 1991. A coalition of 35 nations led by the U.S. responded to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s August 1990 invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Aerial and naval bombing began on Jan. 17, 1991. The ground assault, which began on Feb. 24, ended 100 hours later with a ceasefire and the liberation of Kuwait. A ticker-tape parade for veterans of the conflict took place along Broadway that June.

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

Quotable:

“I wanted to be a brain surgeon, but I had a bad habit of dropping things.”

— comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who was born on this day in 1955