ON THIS DAY IN 1852, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Monday next is the first of November, and the evening previous is observed as a festival among the peasantry of most of the countries of Europe. It is also regarded as a time when spirits of another world are permitted to be abroad on the earth, and fairies, witches and other creations of popular fancy exercise a potent influence over the future destiny of mortals. The desire to pry into futurity, which is a strong element in human nature, has invested the last day of October with a supernatural character, as a time when people may, by the performance of certain rites and ceremonies, obtain a view of their future condition. These mysterious ceremonies, however, are principally confined to the discovery of what shall be the future matrimonial relations of young people, and of course that is a subject on which both sexes would be willing to exercise a little conjuration, provided it would lead to a knowledge of how their lot in this respect is to be cast. Little attention is paid to the occasion in this country, save in some of the New England states, where it is partially observed. It is becoming neglected, however, everywhere, and in the course of time will be entirely forgotten.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1927, the Eagle reported, “LONDON, OCT. 29 (UP) — The Russian explorer, Prof. Peter Kozloff, [according to] the Sunday Express, has solved darkest Asia’s greatest archeological mystery by the discovery of the tomb of Genghis Khan (Jenghiz Khan), Mongolian conqueror, 700 years after his death, near the ruins of the dead city of Khara-Khoto, in the Gobi Desert. Professor Kozloff has devoted 20 years in the search. He found the great Khan’s remains in a silver coffin resting upon the crowns of 78 Princes and Khans whom he conquered. The secret wonders of the conqueror’s tomb, says the Express, vie with those of Tutankhamen. Seven silent lamas guard the secret place and every seven hours one of them strikes seven times on a huge jade bell hanging above the sarcophagus. For seven centuries the priests have preserved the mystery. The tomb lies beyond the labyrinth of passages cut into the mountainside. It is a spacious hall about 40 feet square, the whole carefully preserved, and once every year certain privileged Mongols and the Khan’s descendants repair thither to make sacrifice to his memory.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “Concerning Frankenstein and his monster, and Dracula, too, the late Clare Briggs might conceivably have drawn one of his celebrated cartoons and entitled it: ‘What does a monster think about?’ But let’s take a look into this monster situation out in Hollywood just to inquire behind the scenes at a time when both ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula,’ or Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, are being shown on the double bill at the Albee Theater in a new type all-horror show. Karloff’s case ought to be sufficient. Strange as it seems, a tremendous number of people get all excited by murder trials, ghastly accidents, sensational love crimes and monstrosities of all sorts. This monstrosity was to be kept behind closed doors until he could burst upon 10,000 screens all over the United States. His place of incarceration was the innermost makeup room of that same City of Make-Believe where the Hunchback of Notre Dame had growled, the Phantom of the Opera had sung his fatal role, where Dracula had sunk into his last 500-year-old coffin, and the terrifying claws of the Cat had closed about the beautiful neck of the Canary — Universal City. ‘You’re going to ask me what I think of this fellow I’m playing?’ he correctly anticipated. ‘Well, the intelligent will be more than simply frightened at his screams and dead eyes; they are going to sympathize with him.’ But, he was told, our jails are full of desperate criminals who are known to have their fine moments occasionally. Did he seriously think those kind flashes in his monster justified his wild strangling of doctors, brides and children? ‘That is true of your criminals in your jails,’ he said, ‘but Frankenstein isn’t talking about them. Frankenstein concerns the creation of a man — his scientific creation. There is a lesson in Frankenstein’s monster. It makes people think.’”
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Nia Long Amy Sussman/Invision/APGrace Slick Phil Konstantin/Wikimedia Commons
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “The Power Broker” author Robert Caro, who was born in 1935; football coach Dick Vermeil, who was born in 1936; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane), who was born in 1939; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Otis Williams (The Temptations), who was born in 1941; “Happy Days” star Henry Winkler, who was born in 1945; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles), who was born in 1947; actor and director Charles Martin Smith, who was born in 1953; “Fatal Affair” star Nia Long, who was born in Brooklyn in 1970; “Glee” star Matthew Morrison, who was born in 1978; former presidential adviser Ivanka Trump, who was born in 1981; “Pretty Little Liars” star Janel Parrish, who was born in 1988; Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Nastia Liukin, who was born in 1989; and Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker, who was born in 1996.
Henry Winkler Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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FOUNDER’S DAY: John Adams was born in Massachusetts on this day in 1735. Adams was on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was George Washington’s vice president (1789-1797) and the second president of the U.S. (1797-1801). His son John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the U.S. (1825-29). Adams and fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the declaration’s adoption.
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FRIGHT NIGHT: H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” was broadcast on this day in 1938. As part of a series of radio dramas based on famous novels, the Orson Welles and Mercury Theater production resulted in mass panic when listeners believed that the simulated news bulletins describing a Martian invasion of New Jersey were real. The following day, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The more than 300 calls which cluttered the switchboard at Brooklyn Police Headquarters composed what one patrolman there called the strangest incident in his 25 years of service. Although dozens of unusual messages reach the Telegraph Bureau of the department each week, none were more fantastic than those last night.”
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
— U.S. Founding Father John Adams, who was born on this day in 1735
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
