March 7: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 7, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P) — Foreign ministers of Britain, France and the United States will meet within a month to confer on the Soviet cabinet shakeup and plans for Western Germany, informed sources said today. The meeting will be held immediately after the foreign ministers of the U.S., Canada, Norway and the Western Union countries assemble to sign the Atlantic Pact. The date and site of the Atlantic Pact Conference have not yet been set. British officials expect it to be late this month or early April at Bermuda, Washington or Ottawa. Meanwhile, Western diplomats said Premier Josef Stalin may have revamped the Soviet Foreign Office and strengthened the inner Kremlin Politburo in anticipation of a diplomatic showdown with the West this spring.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn-bred Judith Coplon and Valentin Gubitchev, Russian engineer, were convicted today on two counts each of a four-count espionage indictment by a jury in Federal Court, Manhattan. The jurors — six men and six women — brought in their verdict to Judge Sylvester Ryan at 11:47 a.m. They had deliberated five hours until 12:25 a.m. today, and resumed weighing the case, following a period of sleep in a hotel, at 9:45 a.m. The maximum penalty for Gubitchev, convicted on the first and third counts, is 15 years in jail and a $20,000 fine — $10,000 on each count. Miss Coplon, convicted on the first and fourth counts, faces 25 years and a $20,000 fine. She was acquitted on the second count, charging her with passing government secrets to an unauthorized person. Judge Ryan remanded the prisoners, who had been free on bail of $40,000 for the girl and $100,000 for Gubitchev, to jail for sentence at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Defense attorneys made a long series of motions, all of which were denied.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — American officials today predicted that the new leaders in the Kremlin will move quickly after Stalin’s funeral to purge Soviet and satellite leaders who might threaten their newly won power. These officials feel there also is a slight possibility of a falling-out between Premier Georgi M. Malenkov and his rivals that could shake Russia and the Communist world to its foundations. Authorities pointed out that Malenkov, as Stalin’s ‘shadow’ over the years, knows all the techniques for ruthlessly stamping out opposition with guns, prison cells and slave labor camps. ‘They will have to clean house again, and it’s anybody’s guess where it will start and stop,’ one official said. News that the Soviet leaders had been chosen a mere 20 hours after Stalin died came as a surprise to this government. The White House and State Department declined comment. But officials and congressmen generally agreed the implication was that Russia cold war policies continue in full force, if not increased. The Soviet reorganization was regarded as a Kremlin effort to present a solid front to the free and Communist worlds as a warning against action aimed at capitalizing on Stalin’s death.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “The United States served notice on the United Nations today that it will pay only its assessed share of future peace-keeping operations and nothing more unless other countries meet their part of the costs. U.S. Ambassador Francis T.P. Plimpton laid down the policy in a closed meeting of a working group of 21 countries seeking a formula for the financing of future operations like the Congo and the Middle East, which have almost bankrupted the world organization. Informed sources said Plimpton’s declaration was ‘tough’ and caused a stir among the delegates, whose work on a financial policy for presentation to a special session of the General Assembly called for May 14 has thus far been unspectacular. The refusal of the Soviet Union and its Communist partners, and a number of other countries — notably including France, Belgium, South Africa and some Latin American states — to contribute anything to the peace-keeping costs has caused a U.N. deficit disclosed by Secretary General Thant last night to be $72 million and likely to increase to $127 million by the end of June.”

***

Amanda Gorman
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include International Motorsports Hall of Famer Janet Guthrie, who was born in 1938; “Hill Street Blues” star Daniel J. Travanti, who was born in 1940; Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris, who was born in 1950; Pro Football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann, who was born in 1952; “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston, who was born in 1956; two-time World Series champion Joe Carter, who was born in 1960; “Tell it to My Heart” singer Taylor Dayne, who was born in 1962; “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L. James, who was born in 1963; “Less Than Zero” author Bret Easton Ellis, who was born in 1964; “The Upshaws” star Wanda Sykes, who was born in 1964; former N.Y. Mets second baseman Jeff Kent, who was born in 1968; Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz, who was born in 1970; “The Office” star Jenna Fischer, who was born in 1974; “That ’70s Show” star Laura Prepon, who was born in 1980; swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz, who was born in 1994; and poet and activist Amanda Gorman, who was born in 1998.

Bryan Cranston
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

***

MANY ARE CALLED: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone on this day in 1876. The Scottish-born inventor also founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885. He died in 1922.

***

THE LONG ROAD: On this day in 1965, Alabama state troopers used nightsticks and tear gas against civil rights activists who were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on their way to the state capitol in Montgomery. Outrage over the attack contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

***

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

Quotable:

“Poetry has never been the language of barriers; it’s always been the language of bridges.”

— poet and activist Amanda Gorman, who was born on this day in 1998