May 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 5, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “CHICAGO — Plans are being made by owners of more than 200 drink cure institutions to discontinue business with the coming of national prohibition, according to officials of institutions here. A few of the places may continue indefinitely as drug cure sanitariums, but a large majority is expected to close within a year. James E. Bruce, an official of a drink cure corporation that advertises it has cured more than 500,000 victims of alcohol, said the prohibition wave had for some time caused decreased business. ‘We figure there will be no need for our institutions after the country goes dry,’ he said. ‘However, we expect business to increase for a few months right after prohibition becomes effective. But after that it will rapidly decrease. A few years ago we had 60 branches in operation throughout the country. Today we have 26. Drug cases constitute about 25 percent of our business, the number being about the same as before the Harrison anti-drug law went into effect five years ago. But we do not think it would pay to continue treating drug cases alone. Adoption of bone dry prohibition by a number of states has decreased business in many sections. Business also fell off during the war, but last fall it picked up again at about the time of the influenza epidemic and has been fairly good ever since.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Senator [Pat] McCarran (D., Nev.) presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee today a substitute for the Roosevelt court bill. His plan would provide for two new Supreme Court justices but no increase in lower court judges.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “While New Yorkers today awaited word of final victory in Europe, police officials were alerted for an official announcement. Urgings from various quarters agreed on the appropriateness of a sober VE-Day observance. A teletype message received at police station houses all over the city last night directed that patrolmen on the third platoon, whose shift is from 4 p.m. to midnight, be held in reserve. The order was rescinded at 4:41 a.m. today. A similar order, later canceled, was issued last Saturday night. Earlier today a confidential telephone order from Police Commissioner [Lewis] Valentine alerted all officers from captains to chief inspectors. Borough officials, meanwhile, are making preparations for services at Borough Hall. They will be held from 5 to 10 p.m., thus timing them with the city’s official VE services on the Central Park Mall. Similar preparations are being made in Queens and the Bronx. In Richmond, however, Borough President [Joseph A.] Palma said, ‘The war is far from over and I do not think it appropriate to celebrate until the war in the Pacific is won.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (U.P.) — Sources close to Soviet headquarters said today that Russia’s first step on lifting the Berlin blockade would be to demand a plebiscite to force establishment of a central German government. Russia would want the plebiscite to ask the German people merely if they wanted a united or a split Germany. Observers said virtually every German would vote ‘yes’ for a united Germany. By this means, it was said, Russia would hope to: 1. Block formation of a Western German state in the American, British and French zones; 2. Establish a central German government and spread Communist and Soviet influence beyond the confines of the Soviet zone; 3. Block participation of Western Germany in the Atlantic Pact; 4. Block participation of Western Germany in the Western union; 5. Gain a voice in the control and management of the great industrial Ruhr. The report was bolstered by a German Communist communique today which called on all Germans to demand establishment of a central government for all four zones, conclusion of a peace treaty and withdrawal of all occupation troops.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “The Little Mermaid” star Pat Carroll, who was born in 1926; “Millennium” star Lance Henriksen, who was born in 1940; “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” star Michael Palin, who was born in 1943; “Raiders of the Lost Ark” star John Rhys-Davies, who was born in 1944; TV personality Kurt Loder, who was born in 1945; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), who was born in 1948;

Dream Theater singer James LaBrie, who was born in 1963; “Mad Men” star Vincent Kartheiser, who was born in 1979; “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel, who was born in 1981; two-time Super Bowl champion Randall Gay, who was born in 1982; “Superman” star Henry Cavill, who was born in 1983; pop superstar Adele, who was born in 1988; and world champion figure skater Nathan Chen, who was born in 1999.

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IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?: The American Medical Association was organized on this day in 1847 when 250 delegates attended a meeting in Philadelphia. It was the first national medical convention in the U.S. Today, the association has more than 240,000 members.

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A STAR IS BORN: The first U.S. astronaut went into space on this day in 1961. Alan Shepard, aboard Freedom 7, projected 115 miles into space in suborbital flight, reaching a speed of more than 5,000 mph. Ten years later he commanded the Apollo 14 mission and hit two golf balls on the surface of the moon. He died in 1998.

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

Quotable:

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
— Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who was born on this day in 1813