August 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 9, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1902, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “LONDON — King Edward and Queen Alexandra were crowned in Westminster Abbey shortly after noon today. Though the ceremony was bereft of some of the elaboration and pageantry originally contemplated, it lacked little in the way of spectacular perfection. The whole ceremonial was of a magnificently decorative character and presented a constantly changing panorama around the two central figures, enthroned in their robes of velvet, ermine and cloth of gold, amid the distinguished assemblage of actors, the fulfillment of whose various roles necessitated constant movement.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (U.P.) — The German high command indicated today that its attack upon the Russian Ukraine is moving at blitzkrieg pace with the capture of Korosten, 85 miles northwest of Kiev, and the smashing of the Russian 6th, 12th and 18th armies. It said another great Soviet force has been destroyed 60 miles southeast of Smolensk. In these new operations the high command estimated that the Russians have lost a minimum of 341,000 troops, including 141,000 prisoners. This is in addition to the 895,000 prisoners reported by the high command in its special communiques Wednesday and raises the gross total of claimed Soviet prisoners to over 1,000,000.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “GUAM (U.P.) — Preliminary reports indicated that the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan all but obliterated Nagasaki, a major naval base and Japan’s 11th largest city, during the noon rush hour today. Crew members of the Superfortress which loosed the terrifying bomb on Nagasaki watched the earth-shaking explosion and flashed back to Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, commander of the strategic air forces, that results were ‘good.’ ‘No further details will be available until the mission returns,’ General Spaatz said in a brief communique. But to all hands that brief report — ‘results good’ — indicated that Nagasaki, a city of 252,630 persons, virtually had been blown off the map of Japan by an explosion equal to that which leveled four and one-tenth square miles of Hiroshima, target of the first atomic bombing raid last Monday.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW, AUG. 8 (U.P.) — Premier Georgi M. Malenkov said today Russia has the hydrogen bomb. He told a cheering session of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) Russia would give a ‘crushing rebuff’ to any aggressor and added, ‘we, too, have the hydrogen bomb.’ ‘The United States does not enjoy a monopoly on the hydrogen bomb any more,’ he said. ‘This should put an end to the chatterers’ nonsense about Soviet weakness.” Radios began broadcasting the premier’s statement — the most important policy statement he has thus made — at 8 p.m. and great crowds of Muscovites gathered in the public squares to listen.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “The Community Councils of the City of New York joined with other civic groups and city officials today to express deep concern over the growing crime problem in New York and called for a $1,000-a-year raise for every cop to alleviate the ‘near-collapse and demoralization of our police force.’ The civic group, headed by the Rev. Frank Peer Beal of Brooklyn, charged that ‘as long as our police force is maligned, demoralized and underpaid, we might rightfully expect no more than a spiritless and weakened line of defense.’ The Community Council’s resolution came on the heels of a report by Transit Authority member Harris J. Klein of Brooklyn that subway crimes are on the increase. Klein urged that more transit cops be hired, even if it means curtailment of some subway maintenance. ‘I’d rather have a safer subway system for our people than a cleaner system,’ he declared. Klein, speaking on the WNYC radio show ‘Campus Press Conference,’ suggested that cops and firemen wear their badges when they ride the subways to discourage pickpockets and molesters. In another program — this one the Citizens Union Searchlight TV show — Chief Magistrate John M. Murtagh criticized the federal government for failing to deal properly with the city’s narcotics problem. Citing that ‘almost every addict in the city is an active criminal,’ Murtagh said, ‘The federal government is failing miserably in dealing with both the public health and the enforcement aspects of the problem.’”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, who was born in 1928; “Road House” star Sam Elliott, who was born in 1944; Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Simmons, who was born in 1949; “Working Girl” star Melanie Griffith, who was born in 1957; rap legend Kurtis Blow, who was born in 1959; fashion designer Michael Kors, who was born in 1959; Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull, who was born in 1964; “Today” co-anchor Hoda Kotb, who was born in 1964; Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who was born in 1967; “The X-Files” star Gillian Anderson, who was born in 1968; “Charlie’s Angels” director McG, who was born in 1968; former N.Y. Knicks head coach Derek Fisher, who was born in 1974; “Boston Legal” star Rhona Mitra, who was born in 1976; “Amelie” star Audrey Tautou, who was born in 1976; Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Chamique Holdsclaw, who was born in 1977; “Pitch Perfect” star Anna Kendrick, who was born in 1985; and former N.Y. Giants cornerback Eli Apple, who was born in 1995.

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GOLD STANDARD: Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal of the 11th Olympic Games on this day in 1936. The track and field legend left Berlin having won the 100 meters, long jump, 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay. His record-breaking performance stood until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in L.A.

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NATIONAL NIGHTMARE: Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign on this day in 1974. The resignation, which the president announced to the American people the night before, became effective at noon. Nixon, who was under threat of impeachment as a result of the Watergate scandal, was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford.

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

Quotable:

“Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful in anything that you put your mind to.”

— Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, who was born on this day in 1928