Brooklyn Boro

July 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 8, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “LONDON — Fragments of news from various sources indicate that the assassination of Count von Mirbach, the German ambassador to Russia, was accompanied by a formidable uprising against the Bolsheviki in Moscow. A Russian wireless dispatch claims that the uprising has now been completely suppressed, and the tone of the message indicates that the suppression was accomplished with sanguinary violence, the orders being that all who showed resistance to the Bolsheviki should be ‘shot on the spot.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “By the acquirement by the city of 81 acres adjoining Dyker Beach Park, the Boro of Brooklyn will soon have one of the finest municipal golf courses in the United States. The transfer will be made within a month and Park Commissioner [John] Harman is already making plans for what he declares will be the finest playground in Greater New York. The territory which is to be added to Dyker Beach Park is bounded by 14th Ave., 86th St. and 7th Ave., and is wholly unoccupied with the exception of three or four dwellings and a hospital building, all of which will be taken by condemnation. It is believed that the cost of the property will not exceed $400,000. The cash necessary will be raised by assessment to be divided between the city and the boro, with a small percentage on the local area. There are all together 221 acres ideally located for golf courses, and the landscape architect and golf ground builders have assured the commissioner that when the job is finished there will not be a better course anywhere.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “If nothing more is written about the will-o’-the-wisp discs which have been reported seen in 31 states and parts of Canada, people will stop seeing them, according to a prominent borough psychiatrist. Dr. Irving Sands, a member of the Kings County Medical Society, yesterday told a Brooklyn Eagle reporter that ‘such stories attract the exhibitionists who seize upon them as an opportunity to call attention to themselves.’ The psychiatrist likened the rush to report the ‘flying saucers’ to the many ‘confessions’ with which police are pestered on sensational crime cases. ‘There is mass suggestion in a story such as this,’ Dr. Sands said. ‘The mystery and sense of the unusual in such a story appeals to people, who, moved by a guilt complex, get a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment if they claim that they have done something in connection with it.’ Meanwhile, the mysterious flying saucers which have baffled the country since June 25 were reported in this area by a Valley Stream boy who claimed he had seen what looked like large aluminum plates flying west in V formation on Sunday night.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — Four Puerto Rican terrorists who fired a vicious volley of bullets on House of Representatives members March 1 today were given the maximum prison sentences. Lolita Lebron, 34, who waved a Puerto Rican flag while she fired from the House gallery, received a prison sentence of from 16 years and eight months to 50 years. Prison terms of from 25 to 75 years were imposed on each of her three co-assailants, Rafael Cancel Miranda, 25, who claimed to be ringleader; Andres Figueroa Cordero, 29, and Irving Flores Rodriguez, 28. The four, all members of the revolutionary Puerto Rican Nationalist party were convicted June 16 of assault with a deadly weapon. The three men were also found guilty of five additional counts each of assault with intent to kill, but Mrs. Lebron was found innocent on this charge. In imposing the sentences, Federal Judge Alexander Holtzoff said the four fanatics stood convicted of ‘a crime so heinous, so infamous, so daring and atrocious as to have shocked the conscience of the nation.’ He said they have displayed no regret and no remorse and have ‘shown no contrition.’ Therefore, he added, the ends of justice would be met only by meting out maximum penalties provided by law.”

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Sophia Bush
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Milo Ventimiglia
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Songwriters Hall of Famer Steve Lawrence, who was born in Brooklyn in 1935; “Arrested Development” star Jeffrey Tambor, who was born in 1944; “True Grit” star Kim Darby, who was born in 1947; celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who was born in 1949; Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston, who was born in 1951; Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Lambert, who was born in 1952; author and activist Marianne Williamson, who was born in 1952; “Footloose” star Kevin Bacon, who was born in 1958; “One of Us” singer Joan Osborne, who was born in 1962; “Loser” singer Beck, who was born in 1970; “Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia, who was born in 1977; “One Tree Hill” star Sophia Bush, who was born in 1982; and rapper and actor Jaden Smith, who was born in 1998.

Beck
Katy Winn/Invision/AP

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POST TIME: On this day in 1911, Nan Jane Aspinwall rode into New York City carrying a letter to Mayor William Jay Gaynor from San Francisco Mayor Patrick Henry McCarthy, becoming the first woman to cross the U.S. on horseback. She began her trip on Sept. 1, 1910 and covered 4,500 miles in 301 days.

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TIME FLIES: On this day in 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis took off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for the 135th and last mission of the space shuttle program. Atlantis was carrying supplies for the International Space Station and its 12-day mission included an investigation into robotically refueling spacecraft. The first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched on April 12, 1981. Robert L. Crippen, commander of that flight, was present at the final launch.

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

 

Quotable:

“The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.”

— comedian Marty Feldman, who was born on this day in 1934

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