October 7: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 7, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Acquisition of a site in Brooklyn for a college center, to serve Brooklyn City College and probably Brooklyn Hunter College, came to a head today when representatives of the Board of Higher Education, headed by Ralph Jonas of Brooklyn, asked the Board of Education to purchase the 40-acre Harmon tract, bounded by Ocean and Flatbush Aves. and Avenues G and H. The estimated price is $5,000,000. Mayor [Jimmy] Walker, however, deferred action by revealing for the first time that the Controller’s office had been conducting private negotiations for purchase of a site in Brooklyn for the purpose. The Mayor refused to divulge the site in question, saying property owners would immediately boost prices. He added that the land can be acquired through private sale at about $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 less than that now asked for the Harmon tract. A report on this alternative site, announced by the Mayor, will be made to the Estimate Board in two weeks. That was made known when Mr. Jonas asked the Harmon site be considered at next week’s meeting of the Board of Estimate.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “Today is the day Brooklyn’s millions deliver their own private kick in the pants to Hitler and Hirohito. Today at 3 p.m. Brooklyn begins putting out its scrap. Tomorrow morning at 6:45 the Department of Sanitation’s trucks start rumbling through the graying light to pick up the stuff with which your Uncle Samuel’s sinews of war will be strengthened. All day long 250,000 volunteers, shock troops in Brooklyn’s battle for material, were going from door to door, flat to flat, block to block, urging all to get it out. They told householders about the deadline. That is important. Begin putting the scrap on the sidewalk in front of your home at 3 p.m. today. Get it all out before 6:45 a.m. tomorrow. Don’t miss the boat. When the trucks pass, it will be too late for them to turn back. Don’t be too late. And don’t give too little. Every patriotic man, woman and child searched today through every apartment, cellar, attic and garage in the borough to get every bit of scrap metal out to the curb this afternoon or tonight. Today brought to a climax the borough’s greatest treasure hunt, a search for an unlimited amount of scrap desperately needed to keep the nation’s war production on the march. Today it was up to Brooklyn to answer the last call.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Borough President [John] Cashmore announced yesterday that the major part of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade has been completed and will be opened to the public with appropriate ceremonies next Saturday, at 11 a.m. The ceremonies will be held near the foot of Montague St. and Columbia Heights and will be sponsored jointly by the Department of Parks and the Borough President’s office. The promenade surmounts the Brooklyn-Queens Connecting Highway, which skirts the waterfront on Brooklyn Heights along Furman St. The promenade was developed on the upper level of a three-tier cantilever structure. The two lower levels form arterial roadways which will carry traffic when this section of the Connecting Highway is placed in use. The elevated three-level structure has been hailed as a unique engineering achievement and the expressway itself is considered as one of America’s finest examples of urban arterial highway construction.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “TOKYO (U.P.) — Chinese Nationalist forces on Formosa [Taiwan] will not launch a major attack on the Communist-held China mainland without informing American officials, it was learned today. Well qualified sources told the United Press ‘it is not necessarily true that there is a written agreement that the Nationalists must consult with the Americans in advance of any major attack, but that is how the understanding works out in practice.’ It was pointed out the Chinese Nationalists have a good army, but do not have sufficient air and naval strength to support a major invasion of the Red-held China mainland. ‘So,’ these sources told the United Press, ‘if the China Nationalists, as the situation stands now, want to launch a real invasion they will have to tell the Americans first. They will have to get American help.’”

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John Mellencamp
Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “The View” co-host Joy Behar, who was born in Brooklyn in 1942; former N.Y. Yankees coach Jose Cardenal, who was born in 1943; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp, who was born in 1951; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tico Torres (Bon Jovi), who was born in 1953; cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was born in 1955; “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell, who was born in 1959; “Unbreak My Heart” singer Toni Braxton, who was born in 1967; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Thom Yorke (Radiohead), who was born in 1968; “Boiler Room” director Ben Younger, who was born in Brooklyn in 1972; former NFL running back Priest Holmes, who was born in 1973; “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks, who was born in 1976; former NFL cornerback Charles Woodson, who was born in 1976; San Francisco Giants third baseman Evan Longoria, who was born in 1985; and L.A. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, who was born in 1992.

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SIGNING IN: Caesar Rodney was born on this day in 1728. The Delaware native was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia and cast a tie-breaking vote that led to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which he signed. He died in 1784 after a long battle with cancer.

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MEOW AND FOREVER: “Cats” premiered on this day in 1982. The second-longest-running production in Broadway history (after “The Phantom of the Opera”) was based on a book of poetry by T.S. Eliot and had a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber. More than 10 million theatergoers saw the New York City production, which closed Sept. 10, 2000 after 7,485 performances.

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

Quotable:

“If you break your knee, you have therapy on your knee, and it’s the same for your heart.”

— singer-songwriter Toni Braxton, who was born on this day in 1967