October 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1869, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There are indications that the troubled period through which our earth has been passing amid volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, eclipses, meteor showers, and other startling phenomena, is not yet ended. Disturbances in South America threaten a repetition of the convulsions of last year. The people of the West Indies are reminded that they cannot long hope to have peace. An experienced weather prophet asserts with emphasis that the late New England gale will be followed shortly by one more tremendous, and an earthquake prophet prepares the Californians for dreadful disasters. Philosophers are busy investigating the causes of these grave results, but people who are not philosophers are chiefly concerned with the facts themselves. We have been taught to believe that the volcanic and earthquake stage had become historical, but that theory is getting negatived. The demonstrations are as violent as they ever were, and seem to be extending over a wider field of operations. Hurricanes are no longer confined to tropical regions, and who can tell at what moment our quiet mountains may develop fiery craters? Some time ago we republished from that non-sensational journal, the London Spectator, an article going to show that the mysterious magnetic influence pervading the solar system probably has a moral and intellectual as well as a material effect, and that there might be a close relation to human passions and natural phenomena. Are earthquakes and sea-bores and eclipses responsible for the financial crisis and gold-gambling in Wall Street?”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “The recent visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to France influenced the world of stamps as well as the political sphere. For the first time in the history of postage stamps (the first was issued in 1840), an English King’s act has been commemorated by a foreign design. The royal pair were honored by a stamp showing the clasped hands of Great Britain and France, which appeared shortly after their visit. Although Great Britain was first in the world with adhesive postage stamps, she is last in number of personalities shown on her postal portraits. Queen Victoria, both Edwards and both Georges, with the present Queen Elizabeth, who succeeded her, have been the only ones to receive this honor. An unwritten law, born in the Victorian era, when some members of Parliament suggested stamp pictures for Albert and the juvenile members of the royal family in addition to those bearing the Queen, and were silently voted down, left the regent as the sole occupant of all stamp designs. It was not until the sudden abdication of Edward VIII and the ascension of George VI to the throne that the 97-year-old precedent was broken. To sell the new King and Queen quickly to the people of Great Britain it was decided to issue a Coronation stamp showing George and Elizabeth. Both look every inch a royal pair in the picture employed in the design. All Britain’s regular issues, however, revert to the old standard and we only see George’s picture on the new values which are rapidly succeeding the old ones showing his late father.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.