August 16: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 16, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1878, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Charles Gates, the unfortunate youth who while bathing in the bay outside the Erie Breakwater, on last Thursday afternoon, was attacked by a shark, died on Tuesday night at St. Peter’s Hospital from the effects of his injuries. The circumstances attending the shocking and almost unprecedented occurrence were fully detailed in the Eagle and excited much interest. There were many incredulous persons who looked upon the story as altogether too fishy; but, without even the statement of Arthur Cole, the companion of the poor lad who witnessed the struggle which the latter had with the monster, from the boat which was alongside, the nature of the ghastly wounds left no doubt whatever in the minds of the physicians at the hospital that they were received in the manner described. It will be remembered that the two boys had been out crabbing for several hours, and that Gates proposed they should go in swimming. The Cole boy not only refused to do so, but endeavored to dissuade his companion, saying that he had heard that sharks had been seen round there in August.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1927, the Eagle reported, “MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, OAKLAND, CAL. (AP) — The dream of the aerial world since its beginning, a transoceanic race, was on at noon today when Bennett Griffin, flying monoplane Oklahoma, hopped off from the Oakland Airport at 12:30 o’clock on a non-stop flight to Honolulu in the Dole flight for $35,000 in prize money. Norman Goddard’s monoplane, El Encanto, crashed as it was attempting to get off the runway, approximately 4,800 feet from the start, and smashed up 100 feet to the right. Neither of the occupants was injured … Fog, occasional rain squalls and now and then clear patches of sky, but not storms or gales, await the fliers, the Weather Bureau announced.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — The Japanese empire, under the terms of the Cairo agreement and its reemphasis in the Potsdam declaration, becomes, in territory, a minor nation with land holdings about the size of California. Fifty years of aggressive land-grabbing goes for naught; postwar Japan will be the territory in the Nipponese empire prior to 1895, the area in Japan proper before her dreams of expansion were transformed into action. The land-grabbing action began in 1894 when Japan made war on China to acquire the 14,000-square-mile island of Formosa [Taiwan]. In 1895, China was forced to follow the wishes of the Nipponese and ceded Formosa to Japan. Its population was approximately 5,000,000 persons, mostly Chinese. Its present population is still largely Chinese who want independence or to be a part of China. The possession of Formosa during these 50 years has provided the Japanese homeland with much foodstuffs, particularly those of a semi-tropical country, but it has been of especial value from a strategical standpoint. It furnished a military and naval base far to the south of the main islands and close to the coast of China. It made possible the complete control of the Ryukyu islands which stretch from Kyushu to Formosa and include Okinawa.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “FROST, TEXAS (U.P.) — The community-wide program of anti-rabies inoculation continued today, with 390 men, women and children taking the third in a series of shots to test the ‘Hipps theory.’ Dr. Herbert F. Hipps of Waco, Texas, has reasoned on the basis of personal observation of some 700 cases of polio, that anti-rabies inoculation might set up an immunity against the disease. The volunteer ‘guinea pigs’ of Frost, where seven cases have occurred this year in a population of about 700, dwindled in number today from a high of 469 on Monday, when the first shot was given. Dr. A.L. Grizafi, Frost’s only physician, said the declining number was due largely to slight reactions from the first vaccinations Monday and yesterday. He said he thought no one had been scared away by warnings of Chicago specialists that anti-rabies vaccinations might be followed by severe after-effects. Grizafi said, however, anyone showing ‘even the slightest reaction’ to the vaccination was sent home and advised not to take any more.”

***

Angela Bassett
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Mildred Pierce” star Ann Blyth, who was born in 1928; “Batman” star Julie Newmar, who was born in 1933; “Little House on the Prairie” star Ketty Lester, who was born in 1934; “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” star Bob Balaban, who was born in 1945; ballerina Suzanne Farrell, who was born in 1945; former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who was born in 1947; NRBQ co-founder Joey Spampinato, who was born in 1948; TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford, who was born in 1953; Kool and the Gang singer James “J.T.” Taylor, who was born in 1953; Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, who was born in 1954; “ER” star Laura Innes, who was born in 1957; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Madonna, who was born in 1958; “Black Panther” star Angela Bassett, who was born in 1958; “The Office” star Steve Carell, who was born in 1962; WNBA star Candice Dupree, who was born in 1984; and swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel, who was born in 1996.

Caeleb Dressel
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

***

RUSH HOUR: Gold was discovered in the Klondike on this day in 1896. According to the oral tradition of the Tagish First Nations People, Skookum Jim, Dawson Charlie and George Carmack found gold in Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River, lying “thick between the flaky slabs like cheese sandwiches.” This event, which led to the great Klondike Gold Rush, is celebrated in the Yukon each year as Discovery Day.

***

THE KING IS DEAD: Elvis Presley died on this day in 1977. The anniversary of the death of one of America’s most popular singers is an occasion for pilgrimages to Graceland, his home and gravesite in Memphis, Tenn.

***

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

Quotable:

“I’m tough, I’m ambitious and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK.”

— Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Madonna, who was born on this day in 1958