June 11: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

June 11, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1890, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Yesterday the Belmont stakes for three-year-olds was won by Burlington with 125 pounds up. This performance — running 1 1/4 miles in 2:07 3/4 and winning with ease — stamps Burlington as the best three-year-old out this season. There were odds of 7 to 1 against the winner, the public having made Mr. Belmont’s Padishah favorite. In the race were Burlington, Devotee, Chaos, Tournament, King Thomas, King’s Own, Jersey Pat and Torso. Hamilton on Padishah and Garrison on Devotee tried hard to give Burlington a race, but the latter drew away with ease and won by two lengths from Devotee, Padishah getting third place.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1930, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA (A.P.) — Thomas S. Shibe, vice president of the A.J. Reach Company, which manufactures all the American and National League baseballs in its plant here, today issued a statement denying that there is any difference in the balls. Shibe said his denial was prompted by a statement attributed to Babe Ruth that he was convinced that the balls used in the National League were livelier than those used in the American.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “READING, PA. (U.P.) — Local residents had a taste of what nationwide inflation could be like when household and canned goods were auctioned off here at such prices as $1.10 for a quart of chow-chow; 95 cents a quart for raspberries; 70 to 80 cents a quart for peaches, and $20 for one earthen pitcher.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The unprecedented spectacle of open warfare between two members of the U.S. Supreme Court today hurled Congress into a feud involving Justices Robert H. Jackson and Hugo L. Black. It raised the possibility of a congressional investigation and public linen-washing such as the staid old court never has experienced since it was founded in 1789. The ramifications conceivably could include impeachment proceedings against one or both of the brawling members of the nation’s highest tribunal. And it could stall the pending nomination of Fred M. Vinson to be chief justice. The feud between Justices Jackson and Black had been smoldering with unofficial congressional cognizance for more than a year. An angry blast by Justice Jackson, questioning his associate’s judicial policy, if not his honor, brought it forcefully into the open. Justice Black received the news with stone silence. So did members of President Truman’s official family.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Police operating in Prospect Park admitted today they ‘cannot begin to cope’ with an alarming outbreak of juvenile gang hooliganism and shocking sex crimes unless additional men are assigned to police the park. Brooklyn’s finest park has become the happy hunting ground for a score of the most notorious teenage gangs from all over the borough, cops said. Scores of other less well-known groups of young gangsters also roam the park grounds, as well as degenerates of all ages, who extend their activities to the nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden, it was revealed. Since May 1, when the regular uniformed detail was increased and 12 detectives were also assigned to the park, a total of 63 official complaints have been made to police headquarters by victims of outrages ranging from theft of bicycles to mugging and attempted rape. Additionally, more than twice that many complaints have been made anonymously — and are therefore classified as unofficial — by telephone and letter of the same type of outrages, including forcible rape. The degenerates, primarily exhibitionists, are deemed the minor evils of the situation. Now that the season of band concerts and public dancing is at hand, police fear that the crimes of gangs may even encompass murder.”

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Peter Dinklage
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, who was born in 1930; “Maude” star Adrienne Barbeau, who was born in 1945; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Frank Beard (ZZ Top), who was born in 1949; Air Supply co-founder Graham Russell, who was born in 1950; 38 Special co-founder Donnie Van Zant, who was born in 1952; Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana, who was born in 1956; “House” star Hugh Laurie, who was born in 1959; surgeon and TV personality Mehmet Oz, who was born in 1960; “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage, who was born in 1969; “Fringe” star Joshua Jackson, who was born in 1978; “Transformers” star Shia LeBeouf, who was born in 1986; former N.Y. Liberty point guard Brittany Boyd, who was born in 1993; and “Pan’s Labyrinth” star Ivana Baquero, who was born in 1994.

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HEAD OF THE PACK: Vince Lombardi was born on this day in 1913. The Brooklyn native played football for Fordham’s famed “Seven Blocks of Granite” line in the mid-1930s, became a teacher and began to coach high school football. He became offensive line coach at West Point in 1949 and moved to the N.Y. Giants in 1954. Five years later, he was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers. His Packers won five NFL titles and two Super Bowls in nine years, and Lombardi was generally known as the greatest coach and finest motivator in pro football history. He died in 1970 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

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VOICE OF AMERICA: “American Idol” premiered on this day in 2002. Fox’s phenomenally successful talent show was based on a British program. Singers competed for a major-label record deal while being judged by a panel of highly critical music experts, including Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. The audience voted for favorites online or by phone. Fox canceled the show in 2016 but it was revived by ABC in 2018.

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

Quotable:

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

— football coach Vince Lombardi, who was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1913