August 10: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 10, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, Brooklyn Daily Eagle columnist Henry Suydam wrote, “The United States Senate lives in an atmosphere of extreme dignity and semi-royal magnificence when it functions in its maroon upholstered chamber in Washington. The privileges, immunities and perquisites of a senator are those vouchsafed to no common man. He cannot be held accountable for anything he may utter in the course of debate; he need not bother about trifles like postage stamps; even the elevators in either house of Congress reverse their direction at his behest. This Merovingian absolutism of conduct is granted to each senator for six years, at the end of which he has to go home and beg for votes. He becomes a mere candidate, of which our American woods are full. Once in two years one-third of the august Upper House has got to get itself reelected. One-third of these elevated gentlemen must abandon their luxurious ease and betake themselves to tents, wagon-tails, platforms and dingy rooms in country hotels. The courtesy of the Senate does not extend to campaigning. The present is one of those indecent times when thirty-two senators must argue their constituents into reelecting them. Of the entire thirty-two Republicans, Democrats and Farmer-Laborites who are in this predicament, twenty-eight are running again.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The world had President Truman’s assurance today that the secret of the atomic bomb will remain under lock and key until control methods are found to protect mankind ‘from the danger of total destruction.’ ‘The atomic bomb is too dangerous to be loose in a lawless world,’ Mr. Truman said in his radio address last night. ‘That is why Great Britain, Canada and the United States, who have the secret of its production, do not intend to reveal the secret until means have been found to control the bomb, so as to protect ourselves and the rest of the world from the danger of total destruction.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “The Weather Man said today that the year’s highest temperature — 97.8 on July 29 — might be topped before today is over as the record heat wave shot the mercury up into the 90s again. The mercury started its daily climb as soon as the sun came up this morning, hitting 93 by noon, only .9 of a degree below the all-time high for the day. There was every indication, the W.M. said, that the mercury would hit 98 or possibly even a little higher before nightfall. Humidity today ranged about 10 percent lower than yesterday, which made the high temperatures somewhat easier to bear. The W.M. said the humidity would continue generally low, although he could see no relief from the hot weather before at least Friday. And that, he added, was no promise that there would be any break in the hot spell even then.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “TOKYO (U.P.) — Gen. Douglas MacArthur issued a sharp denial today that his recent talks with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in Formosa [Taiwan] were of a political nature involving America’s policy toward the Chinese Nationalists. He said his Formosan visit was ‘limited entirely to military matters’ — President Truman’s order to the U.S. 7th Fleet to prevent a Chinese Communist invasion of Formosa. Political issues, he said, were not discussed. MacArthur condemned those who ‘maliciously misrepresented’ his mission. He called such critics defeatists and appeasers who seek to undermine confidence in American moves in the Far East and to create the impression that there is friction between his headquarters and Washington. No such disunity exists, he said. Rather, he said, there is ‘complete coordination and cooperation.’ In Washington MacArthur’s statement was regarded as part of an American move to reassure friendly nations critical of the Chiang government that the United States is not changing its policy and throwing political support to the Chinese Nationalists.”

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Antonio Banderas
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include nine-time MLB All-Star Rocky Colavito, who was born in 1933; fashion designer Betsey Johnson, who was born in 1942; Jethro Tull singer Ian Anderson, who was born in 1947; “Baby, Come to Me” singer Patti Austin, who was born in 1950; “Hardcastle and McCormick” star Daniel Hugh Kelly, who was born in 1952; “Desperately Seeking Susan” star Rosanna Arquette, who was born in 1959; “Spy Kids” star Antonio Banderas, who was born in 1960; “Babylon 5” star Claudia Christian, who was born in 1965; former N.Y. Knicks shooting guard John Starks, who was born in 1965; former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, who was born in Brooklyn in 1967; “Rizzoli & Isles” star Angie Harmon, who was born in 1972; and media personality Kylie Jenner, who was born in 1997.

Angie Harmon
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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NATIONAL TREASURE: The Smithsonian Institution was founded on this day in 1846. The collection of museums and research centers is named for British scientist James Smithson (1765-1829), who left most of his wealth to his nephew. After his nephew died childless, the estate passed to the U.S. “to found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

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HOLDING COURT: Red Holzman was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1920. In 1957, he was hired as a scout by the N.Y. Knicks. He served as head coach from 1967 to 1982, leading the team to its only two championships in 1970 and 1973. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986 and died in 1998.

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

Quotable:

“On a good team there are no superstars.”

— Basketball Hall of Famer Red Holzman, who was born on this day in 1920