History

July 17: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 17, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Although the shark scare has subsided a bit along the New Jersey coast, and the hunt has been practically abandoned in Matawan Creek and Raritan Bay, incoming ships report today that the ocean seems alive with sharks. Yesterday a school of sharks was reported in Ambrose Channel in lower New York Bay. Two big blue sharks were captured off Staten Island yesterday by W.H. Kinlock of New Brighton. Both were eighth feet long and were caught with steak as a bait. It took an hour to pull each of them into the boat. The captain of the British steamer Merioneth, which arrived today from Gibraltar, said that five days ago he sighted sharks and had seen them every day after. He said they were all from eight to ten feet long and were traveling in large schools. The American steamer Charles Beatty got in last night and brought a report that the ocean seemed alive with sea tigers. Captain Beatty said that he had never before seen so many sharks. From fifty miles east of Fire Island into port, he said, he saw sharks, probably several hundred of them, from six to twelve feet long.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1921, the Eagle reported, “When District Attorney Harry E. Lewis expressed the opinion that the extreme leniency shown to criminals by sentimental judges had much to do with the increase of crime, he had in mind, doubtless, that of the 1,580 persons convicted by plea or trial of various crimes in the County Court and Supreme Court of Brooklyn alone last year, 593 were let off with suspended sentence. Of that number, 47 were convicted or pleaded guilty as second offenders. And still more, although being really second offenders, were convicted or allowed to plead as first offenders and then let off with suspended sentence. This means that the persons in that list who committed crimes after at least one conviction were let off without any punishment at all, and at least 47 with two or more convictions against them are free today because the judges before whom they came, for reasons best known to themselves, ‘took a chance’ that the twice-convicted men would not fall into error a third time.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1927, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “Everywhere women are demanding their equality of rights. The United States has taken the lead and the war cry is spreading worldwide. From Paris, Mme. Anatole France and Mme. Paul L. Couchoud cabled cheer to the National Woman’s Party in convention assembled. Nora Bayes, favoring an international movement for equal rights for men and women, while in Paris accepted a place on the Actresses Council of the National Woman’s Party. She has been long a worker for equal rights in the theatrical profession. Says she: ‘I am for anything that will take the sex out of the law. I am for everything that acts for humans. The trouble as I see it is that most women have no box offices, no seats to count and no receipts. Men have fooled them through the ages about what they can do.’ Also in Paris the Chamber of Deputies last week adopted a resolution in favor of votes for women in municipal elections by 445 to 105. And in our own state, Assemblyman Hofstadter announces that at the next session of the Legislature he will reintroduce his bill giving women the right to serve on juries.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The United States could, if it had to, expand synthetic oil production to get 2,000,000 barrels a day in two or four years, Dr. Wilbur C. Schroder of the Interior Department’s synthetic fuels division said yesterday. This would meet half the military requirements for oil in the next war, which are estimated at 1,000,000 barrels daily, he told a Senate public lands subcommittee investigating the oil shortage. James Terry Duce, vice president of the Arabian-American Oil Co., said ‘we can continue to discover oil in substantial quantities in Saudi Arabia for a long time to come.’ Russia, he said, is the only other area with ‘equal or greater’ prospects for discovery. Col. J. Monroe Johnson, head of the Office of Defense Transportation, told the subcommittee that 5,000 more tanker cars are needed to transport oil. W.S. Thomas of the export control branch of the Commerce Department said exports of steel tubes and pipes used by the oil industry are not decreasing production in the Western Hemisphere, since most shipments are going to the Caribbean area.”

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David Hasselhoff
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “M*A*S*H” star Donald Sutherland, who was born in 1935; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who was born in 1947; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), who was born in 1949; “Here’s Lucy” star Lucie Arnaz, who was born in 1951; “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff, who was born in 1952; N.Y. Islanders legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier, who was born in 1956; “The Apprentice’ creator Mark Burnett, who was born in 1960; “A Whole New World” singer Regina Belle, who was born in 1963; “Bill & Ted Face the Music” star Alex Winter, who was born in 1965; and “The Brave” star Mike Vogel, who was born in 1979.

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LEGACY OF LAUGHS: Phyllis Diller was born on this day in 1917. With her incisive wit, legendary verve and singularly female presence in the standup comedy boys’ club, Diller broke ground and busted guts for more than 60 years. She made her standup debut as a 37-year-old housewife. Appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show” raised her profile, and a series of successful comedy albums appeared throughout the 1960s. She starred in films with mentor Bob Hope and was a regular on TV, often lending her trademark cackle to comedy and variety programs. She died in 2012.

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QUITE A RIDE: Disneyland opened on this day in 1955. Built in Anaheim, California, under the direct supervision of animation legend Walt Disney, the theme park has had more than 700 million visitors since it opened. Attractions include Splash Mountain, the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

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

Quotable:

“Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.”

— comedian Phyllis Diller, who was born on this day in 1917