March 3: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 3, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “VATICAN CITY (A.P.) — Pius XII opened his pontificate today with a strong appeal for peace and a special prayer ‘in these troublesome and difficult hours’ for those who guide the destinies of nations. His appeal was broadcast to the entire Christian world less than 24 hours after his election to the throne of St. Peter and shortly after he had set his coronation for Sunday, March 12. Speaking for five minutes in Latin from the Sistine Chapel, he expressed his hope and appeal for ‘that peace, sublime gift of Heaven, which is desired by all honest souls and which is the fruit of charity and justice.’ ‘We invite everybody to peace of conscience, tranquil in the friendship of God; to peace of families, united and harmonized by holy love of Christ and, finally, to peace among nations through mutual, brotherly assistance and friendly collaboration,’ he said. ‘In these troublesome and difficult hours while so many difficulties seem to impede attainment of that peace which is the most profound inspiration of hearts, we raise to the Lord a special prayer for all those who are entrusted with the high honor and the grave burden of guiding peoples on the road to prosperity and progress.’ Thus, like his predecessor, Pius XI, Pius XII made peace the keystone of his policy.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “UNITED NATIONS (U.P.) — Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., U.S. delegate to the United Nations, today was said to be planning a full-scale reply to Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky’s charges that the United States was a ‘government bent on war.’ The U.S. ambassador to the UN indicated the tenor of his answer in a brief denunciation of Russia yesterday in which he said it was the Soviets — not the Americans — ‘who have used Asians as cannon fodder.’ Lodge listened to Vishinsky blast Americans as ‘death merchants’ for 31 minutes yesterday, then immediately took the floor in the UN political committee of the General Assembly, meeting at Manhattan headquarters, to issue the brief but scalding rebuttal … The angry exchange yesterday was the first Russian statement to be made on the Korean conflict since the current session of the United Nations General Assembly resumed a week ago. Vishinsky said ‘it is clear there can be no question of a peaceful program in such circumstances and conditions.’ ‘The whole world,’ he said, ‘is watching the implementation of a plan to build armies in Asia — in Japan, Formosa, Burma, Pakistan, Thailand and South Korea — a plan to use Asian soldiers as cannon fodder.’ Lodge picked the ‘cannon fodder’ charge out of the Russian’s speech and hurled it back with the words: ‘It is Russia, not we, who have used Asians as cannon fodder.’ He castigated Vishinsky for his admission that Russia supplies arms to Communist China and said, since no Russian soldiers are fighting, ‘they (the Soviets) are indifferent to what happens.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “CLEVELAND — A top defense official said yesterday that Russia’s overwhelming superiority in non-nuclear arms was a ‘myth.’ Assistant Defense Secretary Paul H. Nitze said that from Moscow’s viewpoint it may look as if the North Atlantic treaty powers have the ‘hordes’ of conventional forces. In a speech prepared for the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, Nitze said that the realities of East-West military power today were such that a deliberate nuclear or all-out conventional attack on western Europe ‘is simply not a rational politico-military act.’ He asserted that the Soviet Union has the potential for probing actions now and faster mobilization for full-scale attack which would have a ‘high probability of breaking through today’s NATO defenses.’ He called on European allies to ‘shoulder an even greater portion of the financial and manpower burdens of the alliance’ and to bring their armed forces up to long-prescribed NATO goals. Nitze, describing Soviet conventional arms superiority as a myth, said that NATO has more men under arms and ‘greater overall strength’ than the Russians. He said NATO has 5.8 million men under arms while Russia and its Warsaw Pact allies have 4.3 million.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Up Where We Belong” singer Jennifer Warnes, who was born in 1947; writer and historian Ron Chernow, who was born in Brooklyn in 1949; astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar, who was born in 1949; Hooters guitarist John Lilley, who was born in 1954; “All My Children” star Darnell Williams, who was born in 1955; Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who was born in 1962; rapper and actor Tone Loc, who was born in 1966; N.Y. Rangers legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, who was born in 1968; “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen, who was born in 1970; “7th Heaven” star Jessica Biel, who was born in 1982; and “Havana” singer Camila Cabello, who was born in 1997.

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LIVES IN THE BALANCE: Congress passed the Missouri Compromise on this day in 1820. In February 1819, a bill was introduced to admit Missouri to the Union as a free state. At the time, there were 11 free states and 10 slave states. Southern congressmen feared this would upset the balance of power between North and South. As a compromise, Missouri was admitted as a slave state but slavery was forever prohibited in the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase. This act was repealed in 1854 when Kansas and Nebraska were allowed to decide on slave or free status by popular vote.

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BANNER DAY: The Senate adopted the bill designating “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the U.S. national anthem on this day in 1931. President Herbert Hoover signed it the same day.

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

Quotable:

“Ask any athlete: We all hurt at times. I’m asking my body to go through seven different tasks. To ask it not to ache would be too much.”

— Heptathlon legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who was born on this day in 1962