March 30: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 30, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “UNO HEADQUARTERS (U.P.) — Bitter initial Soviet reaction to the United Nations Security Council appeal to Premier Josef Stalin for assurances his troops will leave Iran unconditionally posed another major test of the new peace organization today. Coupled with doubt over Russia’s reply was confusion about relations between Ambassador Hussein Ala, Iran’s spokesman before the Security Council, and his own government. There was a question as to how truly he represented the policies of Premier Ahmad Ghavam. Prince Mozaffar Firouz, Premier Ghavam’s spokesman in Tehran, criticized Ambassador Ala’s statements before the Security Council as exaggerated by patriotism and sentimentality. He apparently referred to Ambassador Ala’s statement before the Council on Wednesday. Weary and worried UNO delegates scattered for rest during the long weekend. It was made possible by the Council’s decision to have a ‘cooling off’ period until next Wednesday morning while awaiting replies to its requests for new information from the Iranian and Soviet governments.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [William] O’Dwyer, submitting his record-breaking 1950-51 operating budget of $1,243,451,794 to the Board of Estimate, today said he was ‘keenly aware’ of the need for more policemen but that he ‘sincerely’ regretted ‘lack of funds’ compelled him to ‘defer’ Police Commissioner William P. O’Brien’s request for ‘an increased force.’ Expected to push the basic real estate tax rate up 15 points or more, the budget, $41,896,430 more than the current one, is the fourth in succession to top the billion mark. Several of the city’s fiscal experts, who said they believed the present tax rate of $2.89 per 100 of assessed valuation was the highest in municipal history, declined to predict what the new tax rate would be. They conceded, however, without permitting use of their names, that the tax rate would climb over the $3 figure. The Mayor’s recommendation that $103,543,257 be allocated to the Police Department is $3,852,917 less than O’Brien requested but it represents an increase of $1,511,867 over the department’s current allotment of funds.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Because of the demand to see Academy Award pictures, Loew’s Theaters has booked an all-Academy Award show for 28 Loew houses. The program includes ‘Roman Holiday’ — skyrocketed again into prominence by its star Audrey Hepburn, who won the ‘Oscar’ for ‘Best Performance by an Actress,’ and which also won two additional awards. The co-feature, winner of two awards — Color Cinematography and the coveted Irving Thalberg Award — is ‘Shane’ with Alan Ladd. This great combination is being shown today, tomorrow and Thursday in Brooklyn at Loew’s Gates, Coney Island, Kings, Pitkin, Kameo, Premier, 46th St., Oriental and Alpine.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “GENEVA (UPI) — The United States yesterday called for immediate action on setting up a direct ‘hot telephone’ link between Washington and Moscow to reduce the risk of accidental war. U.S. Ambassador Charles C. Stelle urged the Soviet Union to quit stalling at the 17-nation disarmament conference and to agree to technical discussions on the proposed direct line. Soviet delegate Semyon Tsarapkin ignored the invitation and instead attacked the United States for ‘openly arming counter-revolutionaries who are conducting forays against Cuba.’ He charged the West was ‘sharpening the threat of war daily’ by increasing military preparations in Europe. ‘The button which can trigger off a nuclear war is the point of attraction to many eager fingers,’ he said. He called again for a non-aggression treaty between the Communist Warsaw Pact and NATO. Tsarapkin made no reference to Stelle’s ‘hot line’ proposal. The establishment of direct and instant communication between the White House or the Pentagon and the Kremlin in Moscow is regarded here as one of the most important measures which could be taken to lessen the risk of war.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “The Addams Family” star John Astin, who was born in 1930; Oscar-winning director Warren Beatty, who was born in 1937; Basketball Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Jerry Lucas, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Eric Clapton, who was born in 1945; “Mad About You” star Paul Reiser, who was born in 1957; rapper and actor MC Hammer, who was born in 1962; “Fast Car” singer Tracy Chapman, who was born in 1964; “My Heart Will Go On” singer Celine Dion, who was born in 1968; “Riverdale” star Mark Consuelos, who was born in 1971; “Sunrise” singer Norah Jones, who was born in 1979; and Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who was born in 1989.

Mark Consuelos
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: “Jeopardy” premiered on this day in 1964. Known as “the thinking person’s game show,” it was created by Merv Griffin and hosted by Art Fleming until it went off the air in 1975. It returned briefly in 1978-79 but wasn’t restored to glory until its current incarnation, which debuted in September 1984 and was hosted by Alex Trebek until his death in 2020.

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MOMENT OF MADNESS: President Ronald Reagan was shot on this day in 1981. Reagan was exiting the Washington Hilton Hotel when a bullet fired by John Hinckley, Jr. ricocheted off the presidential limousine and struck him in the chest. Although the president made a full recovery, White House Press Secretary James Brady was left permanently disabled after he was shot in the head. Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. At his 1982 trial, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was released from psychiatric care in 2016.

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

Quotable:

“I’ve never been cool — and I don’t care.”

— singer Celine Dion, who was born on this day in 1968