August 22: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 22, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “FREEPORT, L.I. — While bathing in Woodcleft Channel yesterday, Charles C. Funk, who is living in the Woodcleft section for the summer, was attacked by a shark. It measured about 7 feet and weighed close to 350 pounds. The brute jumped at Funk, who dived into the channel. Jay Bogart and Tom Murray, the former an actor and the latter a constable, saw the shark making toward Funk. Bogart and Murray grabbed the shark spear on the wharf, hurled the spear into the shark’s side and lifted it out of the water. Funk was uninjured.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “A gasoline shortage, which began several days ago, last night reached the stage where about 75 percent of the stations in Brooklyn were dry and no early improvement was expected. A survey of stations in other parts of the metropolitan area, including Long Island and New Jersey, found conditions there little better. The public’s failure to cooperate in the pleasure driving ban and diversion to the Middle West of stocks originally intended for the East was blamed by W.L. Kallman, executive secretary of the East Coast Petroleum Defense Council. One instance of public reaction to the shortage was graphically demonstrated by the arrival of a delivery truck before noon yesterday at Max’s Gas Station, East New York Ave. and Rockaway Parkway. Before the truck had discharged its cargo, automobiles had assembled in a queue which extended two blocks from the station on Rockaway Parkway. Motorists tooted horns impatiently while awaiting their turn at the pumps.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “TEHRAN (U.P.) — Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi today returned in triumph to his capital to receive a hysterical and weeping welcome from his jubilant subjects. Overjoyed Iranians wept, shouted, flung themselves to the ground and slaughtered whole herds of sheep in a wild orgy of welcome. The 33-year-old ruler, wearing a trim military uniform and gold-braided cap, flew his own twin-engined plane from Baghdad, Iraq … One of the ruler’s first actions upon arriving was to ask officials about the condition of former Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, whose more than two years of iron-handed rule of Iran was ended by Royalist forces in Wednesday’s bloody fighting. Reza Pahlevi told new Premier Gen. Fazollah Zahedi he hoped the aged Mossadegh was being kept comfortable and his health was good.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “A couple of letters written in 1951 by Construction Coordinator Robert Moses were dug out of the files yesterday to point up Mr. Moses’ continuing opposition to tolls on Brooklyn’s bridges spanning the East River. Mr. Moses didn’t go into the obvious matter of discrimination against Brooklynites if the tolls were ever imposed. But he did blast as ‘quaint’ and impractical proposals to charge motorists a toll on old bridges that have been in free use for years and even generations. His original letters were addressed to the City Planning Commission, of which Mr. Moses is a member. The letters said the cost of installing an adequate number of toll booths, plazas and approaches would use up most of the money collected from motorists — and thus be of little, if any, financial help to the city.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1969, a few days after the end of the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York, Brooklyn Spectator columnist “Uncle Walt” wrote, “Couldn’t help thinking the other day, it’s bad enough to look at even one of those hippies — or hippie types. Can you imagine 400,000 of them — all at one time? It is frightening though to think that so many of our young people are like that. They’re escapists, in our book. But there seems to be enough of them to start another political party. Can you imagine them running the country? We blame our involvement in the Vietnam War for a lot of these conditions. The only hope is that once that thing is settled and out of the way, a lot of these other conditions will fade away and die.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Annie Proulx, who was born in 1935; Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who was born in 1939; Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells, who was born in 1941; “The Sopranos” creator David Chase, who was born in 1945; “Laverne & Shirley” star Cindy Williams, who was born in 1947; Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, who was born in 1956; Living Colour founder Vernon Reid, who was born in 1958; Tears for Fears co-founder Roland Orzabal, who was born in 1961; “Crucify” singer Tori Amos, who was born in 1963; Wu-Tang Clan co-founder GZA, who was born in Brooklyn in 1966; “Modern Family” star Ty Burrell, who was born in 1967; National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry, who was born in 1968; chef and TV personality Giada De Laurentiis, who was born in 1970; former “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig, who was born in 1973; and “Don’t Start Now” singer Dua Lipa, who was born in 1995.

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WIT AND WISDOM: Dorothy Parker was born on this day in 1893. The acclaimed poet, critic and author was known as “the wittiest woman in America.” Parker wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and other top periodicals, and was one of the founders of the elite literary group the Algonquin Round Table. Strong but subtle critiques of sexism were prevailing themes in her works, along with critiques of other forms of social inequality. She died in 1967.

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FACE THE FUTURE: Ray Bradbury was born in this day in 1920. The Illinois native was one of the preeminent science fiction/fantasy writers of the 20th century. His body of work, which critiqued social mores and depicted the consequences of unfettered technology, is considered timeless and transcends generations. Notable works include “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” “The Body Electric” and “Fahrenheit 451.” He died in 2012.

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

Quotable:

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

— author Ray Bradbury, who was born on this day in 1920