July 1: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 1, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1863, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Army of the Potomac, under its new commander, has advanced into Pennsylvania, with the purpose of offering battle to the invader. Lee is concentrating his forces with a view of accepting the challenge. The conflict cannot be long delayed, and can hardly fail to rank among the decisive battles of history. The rebels are advancing under a General in whom they have every confidence, and who is allowed to be, by friend and foe, a great military captain. Our army, about equal in numbers to that of the enemy, is led by a General conceded to be brave and energetic, but who has never before had the command of an army which to manage would task the capacity of the greatest military genius. While we are permitted to hope and pray for the best, it is our duty to prepare for and guard against the worst. The main object of Lee’s movements is the discomfiture and destruction of the Army of the Potomac. That once effected, there is no adequate barrier between him and Philadelphia on the one side and Baltimore on the other.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Eagle reported, “The Committee of the Board of Aldermen entrusted with the duty of making preparations for the proper celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the National Independence are drawing to the close of their labors. Alderman Fisher, the chairman of the committee, has devoted almost the whole of his time from the last week to perfecting the arrangements, and if any mishaps should occur it will not be for want of attention on his part.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1896, the Eagle reported, “At the age of 84, Harriet Beecher Stowe is dead. During her productive literary period, she could boast enemies enough to make it almost doubtful if ever she would reach so ripe a term of years. For no woman in this land was ever the subject of such genuine hatred on the part of an influential number of her fellow countrymen, and no woman in the land ever had so large a part in the working of a reform as she. Albeit a busy writer and one of the brainiest of a family that was said to contain more brains than any other in the history of America, it is through one book that her fame will live. It is ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “Next Wednesday is the Fourth of July. Hooray for the Glorious Fourth! But — wait a minute. What have we done in the 147 years since that memorable day when we announced, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?’ What have we done in that long period of time reaching nearly a century and a half? The life in America in 1776 was a simple life. The life in America today is far from simple. We think it is great. What do others think of it? America seen in the films abroad is thus described by a ‘Filmgoer’ in the London Evening News under the caption, ‘America as I Know It’: ‘America is a large country entirely surrounded by sin and sentiment. It is inhabited in the East by unscrupulous but enormously successful businessmen, who devote their nights to squandering in the cabarets their ill-gotten gains of the day before. In the West bad men rob stagecoaches and banks and shoot sheriffs and their partners in crime and spend a good deal of time rolling on the ground in attempts to gouge each other’s eyes out. The North is peopled by bearded scoundrels who go there to escape from the law, to steal mining claims and to menace lonely girls snowbound in log cabins. The South is notable for cacti and half-breeds. The last named have no particular vice; they are just bad.’ The writer admits that he has never been here, but draws his conclusions entirely from the ‘movies.’ One of two things is certain: We should either mend our ways or appoint an international ‘movie’ censor.”

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Andre Braugher
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “An American in Paris” star Leslie Caron, who was born in 1931; “M*A*S*H” star Jamie Farr, who was born in 1934; Famous Amos founder Wally Amos, who was born in 1936; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Debbie Harry (Blondie), who was born in 1945; original “Saturday Night Live” star Dan Aykroyd, who was born in 1952; “Shame” singer Evelyn “Champagne” King, who was born in 1960; “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Andre Braugher, who was born in 1962; Faith No More co-founder Roddy Bottum, who was born in 1963; “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson, who was born in 1967; “One Tree Hill” star Hilarie Burton, who was born in 1982; and “It” star Chosen Jacobs, who was born in 2001.

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STAMP OF APPROVAL: The U.S. Postal Service issued its first stamps on this day in 1847, honoring Benjamin Franklin on the five-cent stamp and George Washington on the 10-cent stamp. Stamps had been issued by private postal services in the U.S. prior to this date.

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LIVE FROM NEW YORK: The first scheduled TV broadcast took place on this day in 1941 when NBC broadcast its signal from the Empire State Building. The FCC granted the first commercial TV licenses to 10 stations on May 2, 1941.

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

Quotable:

“The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today.”

— author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who died on this day in 1896