April 22: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 22, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ON THIS DAY IN 1861, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial said, “The intense and unanimous enthusiasm which fires the heart of the entire North is one of those phenomena of national life and popular impulse which comes like the hurricane and tornado, the earthquake or eruption of a volcano, from the causes of whose existence we are aware, but whose mode of operation has not yet been fathomed. Brooklyn is one scene of commotion, and one object engrosses every man’s attention. For several days past our young men are going off in a continuous stream to the scene of the conflict, leaving weeping eyes and bleeding hearts behind them. But no family seems to shrink from offering its dearest member. Mothers send abroad their sons, wives their husbands, parents their children, offering up on the altar of patriotism the most sacred affections of humanity, and trusting to the generosity of this community and those in whose behalf the sacrifice is made for such poor reparation and acknowledgement as they can bestow. We had hoped that this fearful alternative might have been averted, but it was otherwise decreed. There is no choice now left between total anarchy and ruin, the downfall of the National Capitol, the utter prostration of the country’s flag, and perhaps the march of an invading army among us to overrun the country and give our cities to destruction, and the resolute resolve of the people to fling all other considerations to the winds, and rush to the rescue of all they hold dear.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — The American forces are in complete control of the entire city of Vera Cruz. No non-combatants were injured when fighting was resumed there today. This word was received in a dispatch from Consul Canada this afternoon … Communication between the port of Vera Cruz and the Federal capital has been entirely severed. All the telegraph and the cable wires are down and E.F. Hundley, superintendent of terminals, has been unable to ascertain what has become of the trains that were on their way here yesterday from Mexico City, when the landing of American marines and bluejackets took place. At the terminal here there are eight locomotives and several hundred cars. The unwillingness of storekeepers to keep their places open and the almost total depletion of supplies at the restaurants where the proprietors had the temerity to continue doing business, made it difficult for anyone except the American fighting forces to obtain anything to eat.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “Celebrating its 72nd birthday as a typical borough institution, the Brooklyn Club heard a defense last night of the present Supreme Court whose justices so closely parallel its own age. Speakers unanimously criticized the President’s proposal to enlarge the Court at the annual dinner in the clubhouse, 131 Remsen St. U.S. Senator Royal S. Copeland, guest speaker; Borough President Raymond V. Ingersoll and George V. McLaughlin, president of the Brooklyn Trust Company, bespoke satisfaction with the ‘old guard’ of the Federal judiciary before the club, which was honoring its own ‘old guard’ of 20 members for 40 years or more. ‘There has been too much passing the buck to the Supreme Court,’ said Senator Copeland. ‘The justices cannot put into a law what was not written there nor take from a law those features which make it unconstitutional. They must deal with it as presented. Too much legislation during the past four years has been forced upon the Congress with a plea for immediate enactment. It is not astonishing that such bills have met judicial disapproval. It would have been far more astonishing if they had been endorsed by the Court.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “New York officially went on bread rations today to help feed the starving of Europe. The government’s order cutting flour milling for domestic use went into effect at midnight, but the housewife probably won’t feel the effects for several days, according to bakers, who said they have enough flour on hand to keep up nearly normal production until they can decide how best to effect the cut. Bread will be the first commodity to be hit, probably seriously, in a day or two, with packaged and stored items such as spaghetti, noodles and cereals the last to feel the pinch. Some bakers predicted that the 25 percent cut in flour use will actually represent as much as a 50 percent slash in bread supplies since bread use has increased about 25 percent during the war years. Some bakers were studying possibilities of making smaller loaves and half loaves, while others were thinking of merely cutting their bread and cake production by 25 percent.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “NANKING (U.P.) — A flood tide of Communist soldiers swept across the Yangtse into the heart of Nationalist China against crumbling resistance today, bracketing imperiled Nanking and spearing within 40 miles of Shanghai. Key Nationalist strongholds in the lower Yangtse Valley fell to the Communist onrush, along with scores of villages and hamlets. Firmly planted on the south bank of the river, Communist forces described by their radio as 300,000 strong were fanning out rapidly. Military quarters feared the whole Nanking-Shanghai sector would be sliced into isolated pockets within a day or two, making it easy prey for a quick Communist mopup. Nanking was being abandoned by all who wished to escape a Communist occupation. Thirty planes carried out several hundred members of the Nationalist legislative and executive branches. The U.S. Embassy advised all 300 Americans still in Nanking to get out at once if they could. The warning was partially checkmated by the mass sweep of the Communists across the river east of Nanking, cutting the railway to Shanghai along with the trunk highways.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “LAS VEGAS (U.P.) — A flash of light in the skies northwest of here today signaled the explosion of the atom bomb in the ‘Operation Bigshot’ phase of the spring Nevada proving grounds tests. Within 30 seconds a light-orange colored cloud began to rise above the desert floor. Millions of Americans within the television area ‘saw’ the blast, flashed locally on the WCBS, WNBT and WOR channels.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn attorney James B. Donovan will return to the United States today with the remaining 27 Americans now held by the Castro regime, he said in a message read to the annual Brooklyn-Queens Branch, Police Department Holy Name Society Communion breakfast yesterday at the Hotel St. George. In addition, said Dr. Leonard A. Scheele, former U.S. Surgeon General, now senior vice president of the Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co., who read Donovan’s message, 1,000 persons, with relatives or friends already in the United States, will be permitted to leave Cuba on the ship American Surveyor. The release of the Americans, Donovan said, is ‘an action of clemency on the part of the Cuban government. It does not involve any further pledges of drugs, medicines or baby food to the Cuban people.’ Dr. Scheele, who replaced Donovan at the breakfast when the attorney was called to Havana, was instrumental in collecting drugs for the ransom mission.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 37th birthday quietly yesterday with Prince Philip and their three children at Windsor Castle, 30 miles west of London. At lunch, the family was joined by Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon.”

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson, who was born in 1937; “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” singer Mel Carter, who was born in 1939; novelist Janet Evanovich, who was born in 1943; “Hairspray” director John Waters, who was born in 1946; Basketball Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Knicks forward Spencer Haywood, who was born in 1949; “Show Me the Way” singer Peter Frampton, who was born in 1950; Mike and the Mechanics singer Paul Carrack, who was born in 1951; Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, who was born in 1959; “Night of the Comet” star Catherine Mary Stewart, who was born in 1959; “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star Ryan Stiles, who was born in 1959; “The Walking Dead” star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who was born in 1966; former “The View” panelist Sherri Shepherd, who was born in 1967; “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson, who was born in 1972; former Fox News Channel anchor Courtney Friel, who was born in 1980; and actress and model Amber Heard, who was born in 1986.

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COIN OF THE REALM: By act of Congress, on this day in 1864 “In God We Trust” began to be stamped on all U.S. coins.

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GO WEST: The Oklahoma land rush began on this day in 1889. Under pressure from cattlemen, the federal government opened 1,900,000 acres of central Oklahoma that had been bought from the Creek and Seminole tribes. At noon, a gunshot signaled the moment when thousands of settlers were allowed to enter the territory and claim land.

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A HILL OF BEANS: Today is National Jelly Bean Day, a day to celebrate the colorful candy that has been around since biblical times. For more information, visit www.CandyUSA.org.

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

Quotable:

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Trying to be a little bit better than somebody else at what you love is a great feeling.”
— Two-time World Series champion Terry Francona, who was born on this day in 1959.