October 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 15, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1860, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Torchlight Procession. — There was another great rush to the ferries on Saturday night, for the purpose of witnessing the display in honor of the Prince of Wales. Many thousands crossed in the early part of the evening, and the jam on the return, from ten o’clock to midnight, was tremendous. The bridge on this side of the Fulton Ferry having been completed on Saturday morning, the crowd was transferred to Brooklyn with greater expedition than on other similar occasions recently. No accidents occurred, but a number of pockets were picked.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “First outlet in Brooklyn to react to President Truman’s meat decontrol order was the Fort Greene Retail Market, 174 Fort Greene Place, which hiked its prices today from 40 to 50 percent. The market, serving thousands of shoppers daily, announced increases ranging from 10 cents a pound for chopped meat to 20 cents a pound for beef liver. It has its own slaughterhouse and has been offering beef consistently, even during the worst shortages. Other markets which have their own slaughtering system announced price rises, one coming up with a general 20 percent boost, and still others chose to delay definite action. The average small retailer remained without meat, a survey by the Brooklyn Eagle revealed. Of 20 stores polled in the Flatbush area, only one had beef. The survey indicated that the small retailer would begin to receive shipments in about 10 days — the time taken to slaughter, dress and ship the steers. It was virtually certain that prices would soar above ceiling prices, the question being how high. ‘I don’t know what the prices will be,’ one merchant said. ‘It’s all according to what I am charged.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “STOCKHOLM (U.P.) — The coveted Nobel prize for literature today was awarded to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is credited with ‘mobilizing’ the English language during World War II. It was an open secret that the 78-year-old Churchill, who has dedicated his remaining years to the cause of world peace, would have preferred the Nobel peace prize. But he was genuinely moved, friends said, when informed of his selection for the world’s highest literary distinction. Churchill’s choice by the Swedish Academy of Literature, over such contenders as America’s Ernest Hemingway, is worth $33,840 in prize money. The designation was made a month earlier than usual to enable Churchill to come to Stockholm in person to receive the prize from King Gustav Adolf on Dec. 10. Churchill, the first active statesman to be chosen for the award, received the prize for his war memoirs, ‘The Second World War.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.I.) — President Kennedy was back at work in the White House today in the wake of a whirlwind campaign tour that climaxed with appearances at Buffalo and New York City in support of Democrat Robert Morgenthau’s gubernatorial campaign against Nelson Rockefeller. Kennedy spoke at Buffalo in ceremonies honoring Casimir Pulaski, Polish American Revolutionary hero, then flew to New York for a conference with Ambassador Adlai Stevenson on United Nations matters. Earlier, the president predicted that his national campaigning and that of former President Eisenhower may boost the size of the congressional election vote next month. He said he hoped his 19,000 mile tour this fall would ‘arouse some interest … and encourage the turnout.’ Famous as a vigorous campaigner, Kennedy jarred some newsmen when he told a television interviewer: ‘I don’t enjoy it very much. I think one of the great myths in American life is that those who are in politics love to campaign. Well, maybe some do, but it is hard work making a lot of speeches, and I have a good many other things to do.’”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Eve of Destruction” singer Barry McGuire, who was born in 1935; “Alice” star Linda Lavin, who was born in 1937; Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, who was born in 1945; singer-songwriter Richard Carpenter, who was born in 1946; “Don’t Pay the Ferryman” singer Chris de Burgh, who was born in 1948; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson (The Jackson 5), who was born in 1953; actor and comedian Larry Miller, who was born in 1953; celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, who was born in 1959; “General Hospital” star Vanessa Marcil, who was born in 1968; “The Affair” star Dominic West, who was born in 1969; singer-songwriter Ginuwine, who was born in 1970; singer-songwriter and TV personality Keyshia Cole, who was born in 1981; and “Bridge to Terabithia” star Bailee Madison, who was born in 1999.

Emeril Lagasse
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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LEARNING TO FLY: Mankind left the earth for the first time on this day in 1783. Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes, became the first people to fly when they ascended in a hot-air balloon in Paris less than five months after the first public balloon flight demonstration, and less than a year after the first experiments with small paper and fabric balloons by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Jacques. The flight lasted about four minutes and carried the passengers to a height of about 84 feet.

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FAMILY MAN: Mario Puzo was born on this day in 1920. The Manhattan native wrote the best-selling novel “The Godfather” (1969), which sold 9 million copies in two years. He and director Francis Ford Coppola adapted the novel into a wildly popular Oscar-winning film trilogy. Puzo also wrote the screenplay for the 1978 blockbuster “Superman.” He died in Bay Shore, N.Y., in 1999.

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

Quotable:

“Fortune favors the bold.”

— Roman poet Virgil, who was born on this day in 70 B.C.