August 6: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 6, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1867, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The preparations for the organization of the East River Bridge Company and the commencement of the work are going on in the most satisfactory manner, and in a short time the company expects to be able to lay before the public a full and explicit detail of the plan of the bridge and its location and cost, and then there is no doubt but that the stock will be largely taken up … On Friday last, three workmen, under the direction of Mr. Spangler, commenced to bore near the Fulton Ferry for the purpose of finding the nature of the substratum. By noon on Saturday they reached 22 feet, in which they passed 17 feet of cinders and then reached something like hard pan and then cemented boulders were struck.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1922, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “Titus built an arch. [Grover] Whalen wants to build a bridge — perhaps two or three. But there is one bridge that is especially near to the hearts of Brooklynites. That’s the Brooklyn Bridge. And that bridge is near and dear despite the fact that it is a shameful disgrace to Brooklyn because the approach is a jumble of tumble-down shanties and junk heaps. However, the idea of building the Brooklyn Bridge was good, although it took a mighty long time to put the idea into action. Why, they began planning for the Brooklyn Bridge back in 1810, and it took fifty-seven years of talk before an act was passed by the Legislature incorporating the New York Bridge Company, a private enterprise, and authorizing it to go ahead with the big undertaking. Work was begun three years later, and the bridge was opened for vehicular traffic thirteen years later. And today we are still talking about the Brooklyn Bridge, which, like London Bridge, is said to be falling down — or, anyway, slipping a few cables. Therefore Grover A. Whalen, commissioner of the Department of Plant and Structures, wants to rebuild the Brooklyn Bridge and, incidentally — from the Brooklyn viewpoint it is incidentally – one or two other bridges.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Eagle reported, “CAPE GRIS NEZ, FRANCE (A.P.) — Gertrude Ederle, the American swimmer, started at 7:09 o’clock this morning in an attempt to swim the English Channel. The weather conditions when she took her plunge were fine and the sea was calm. At 4:45 o’clock Miss Ederle was within seven miles of her goal, Dover, after having been in the water nine and a half hours. The sea was fairly calm but a heavy rain was falling and conditions were regarded as unfavorable.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “GUAM (U.P.) — American fighter-bombers hit Tokyo and five surrounding prefectures today only a few hours after almost 600 Superfortresses set fire to five major targets along a 550-mile stretch of Japan in a pre-dawn assault. Radio Tokyo said 130 Iwo-based Mustangs swarmed over the greater Tokyo area in two waves for an hour shortly before 9 a.m., bombing and strafing military and transport objects. Urban areas of several cities also were said to have been attacked … Meanwhile, high-ranking officers of the 3rd Fleet said the great armada now was so powerful it could steam directly into Tokyo Bay if ordered. Vice Admiral John S. McCain, commander of the fleet’s carriers, told newsmen his airmen were determined to hunt down and destroy every plane in Japan before the invasion.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “HONG KONG (U.P.) — The Chinese Communists angrily denounced Gen. Douglas MacArthur today for his recent visit to Formosa [Taiwan] and said it proved the ‘American imperialists are plotting to widen the scope of their war of aggression in Asia.’”

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M. Night Shyamalan
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include science fiction author Piers Anthony, who was born in 1934; “The Bob Newhart Show” star Peter Bonerz, who was born in 1938; “Days of Our Lives” star Louise Sorel, who was born in 1940; “The Jesse Owens Story” star Dorian Harewood, who was born in 1950; “7th Heaven” star Catherine Hicks, who was born in 1951; former National League Rookie of the Year Bob Horner, who was born in 1957; “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” star Michelle Yeoh, who was born in 1962; Basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson, who was born in 1965; ESPN host Mike Greenberg, who was born in 1967; “Unbreakable” director M. Night Shyamalan, who was born in 1970; Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, who was born in 1972; “Up in the Air” star Vera Farmiga, who was born in 1973; ESPN host Max Kellerman, who was born in 1973; “Punky Brewster” star Soleil Moon Frye, who was born in 1976; and former NFL quarterback Seneca Wallace, who was born in 1980.

Soleil Moon Frye
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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POET’S CORNER: Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on this day in 1809. The English poet’s most celebrated works include “The Lady of Shalott” and “Ulysses” and the verse novelettes “Maud,” “Enoch Arden,” “In Memoriam,” “Locksley Hall Sixty Years After” and “The Idylls of the King.” He succeeded William Wordsworth as English poet laureate in 1850. He died in 1892.

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WAR IS HELL: The first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan on this day in 1945. The Enola Gay, an American B-29 bomber, dropped the bomb over Hiroshima, killing 80,000 civilians and destroying the city. It is estimated that another 100,000 people were injured and died subsequently as a direct result of the bomb and the radiation it produced. Another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. On Sept. 2, Japan officially surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.

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

Quotable:

“He makes no friends who never made a foe.”

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was born on this day in 1809