June 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The ‘awful hot’ weather of yesterday, which caused a man from New Orleans to exclaim, ‘Go South, young man, if you would be cool!’ was due to the rare circumstance of 100 percent humidity. It was at 8 a.m. that the 100 percent was shown. As for temperature, it was the hottest June 1 since 1895, the mercury ‘toeing’ the 90 degree mark in mid-afternoon. The temperature was at its lowest at 4 a.m., when it stood at 66. At noon it had risen to 84 and at 3:15 p.m. reached its maximum of 90. The fact that Thursday was the coolest day in May, with a high temperature of 58 and a low of 50, made yesterday’s heat the more depressing, by contrast. High pressure over the South Atlantic states and low pressure over the lake region was responsible for the humidity, while the wind blew from south to southwest, off shore, and therefore did not carry with it any of the refreshing coolness that a sea breeze does.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “A demand that the New York delegation in Congress seek appointment of a special committee, with Bernard M. Baruch at its head, to investigate the gasoline shortage situation in the Eastern states was being sent out today by the Automobile Club of New York, which claims a membership of 35,000 in the city. The action was revealed by William J. Gottlieb, president of the club, who said the committee would make a thorough survey of conditions and draft an overall program for the petroleum industry similar to that a Baruch committee prepared for the rubber business. Gottlieb also announced that he has taken directly to Prentiss M. Brown, Office of Price Administration boss, a demand that ‘Gestapo methods’ of regional OPA offices be halted and that a clear outline of what constitutes pleasure driving be issued. Calling for an end to the existing practice by which OPA investigators stop cars and question drivers to determine legitimacy of their movements, Gottlieb declared: ‘We feel that if the army of OPA inspectors were assigned to eliminating the black market rather than practicing Gestapo methods in stopping women shoppers and churchgoers, the gasoline difficulties would be largely solved.’”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.