November 4: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 4, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, NOV. 3 — Money in circulation in the United States has increased to $4,924,928,348, a per capita of circulation of $47.03, the highest ever recorded and exceeding the figure of a year ago by almost $5. The increase is due almost entirely to the tremendous increase in the issue of the Federal Reserve Bank notes. Notwithstanding the government’s efforts to withdraw gold coin from circulation as far as possible, the amount of gold coin in circulation at the present time is $371,000,000 more than it was a year ago. The general stock of money in the country, which includes money of all sorts held in reserve, as well as money in circulation, is $5,768,711,561, an increase of $1,000,000,000 within the year.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “Governor-elect Thomas E. Dewey, New York symbol of a Republican sweep over New Deal favorites in key political centers of the nation, apparently succeeded in carrying along his entire state ticket regardless of combined Democratic-Labor party opposition to two of his running mates. His landslide plurality of nearly 650,000 votes over Democratic Attorney General John J. Bennett appeared today to have developed sufficient political momentum for the election of Thomas W. Wallace, Republican opponent of Lt. Gov. Charles Poletti, and Frank C. Moore, the GOP candidate against Controller Joseph V. O’Leary. Incomplete state-wide returns, in which 431 upstate election districts were unreported, indicated a comparatively close race for the office of lieutenant governor. Poletti announced this morning that if returns from the unreported upstate districts gave the edge to his Republican opponent, he immediately would demand a recount.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Eleven men accused of loitering in the subway were arraigned in Weekend Court yesterday. All entered guilty pleas after transit Patrolman Walter McDonald said he had found them at 6 a.m. stretched out on the seats of a train of the IRT Nostrand Ave. line at the Flatbush Ave. station. Several who said they had no homes accepted Magistrate Matthew F. Fagan’s offer of a five-day term in jail ‘to get cleaned up.’ The others were given suspended sentences.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Civil Defense Director Arthur W. Wallander reminded the public today that Nov. 14 will be the date of the practice ‘A-Bombing’ of New York City. In Brooklyn, the principal ‘affected’ area will be a section in Williamsburg bounded by Marcy Ave., Metropolitan Ave., Rodney St. and S. 1st St. The Nov. 14 ‘attack’ is primarily to test the Civil Defense forces of the city. A general Public Participation test will follow sometime during the week of Nov. 25.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “TAIPEI, FORMOSA (U.P.) — Nationalist Chinese bombers roared through four waves of Communist fighter planes today and hit Red artillery on the northern anchor of Formosa’s island outpost. Chiang Kai-shek’s warplanes broke through one flight of Russian-built MIG-15s and dropped bombs on Toumen Island and on mainland targets. Toumen Island is situated about one and one-half miles from Yikiangshan, a tiny isle in the Tachen group which has been shelled repeatedly by the Chinese Communists. Yikiangshan was reported under heavy Communist artillery fire. Reports from Quemoy, largest of Chiang’s island outposts, said it was also under heavy fire. Quemoy was the first island attacked in the little war that started last Sept. 3. Taipei newspapers said the first shipment of MIG-killing F-86 Sabrejets will arrive on Formosa this month. A report from Tachen said two destroyers turned over to the Nationalist navy by the United States last summer now were in that area.”

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Matthew McConaughey
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include 1960 National League MVP Dick Groat, who was born in 1930; “M*A*S*H” star Loretta Swit, who was born in 1937; singer-songwriter Delbert McClinton, who was born in 1940; former First Lady Laura Bush, who was born in 1946; “Cold Mountain” author Charles Frazier, who was born in 1950; former Walt Disney executive Anne Sweeney, who was born in 1957; “Cobra Kai” star Ralph Macchio, who was born in 1961; “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, who was born in 1961; rapper and entrepreneur Sean Combs, who was born in 1969; Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey, who was born in 1969; TV personality Bethenny Frankel, who was born in 1970; Pro Football Hall of Famer Orlando Pace, who was born in 1975; and former NFL return specialist Devin Hester, who was born in 1982.

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FOLLOW THE MUMMY: The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in Luxor, Egypt, on this day in 1922. Tutankhamun became pharaoh at age 9 and died at age 19 in about 1352 B.C. Perhaps the only ancient Egyptian royal tomb to have escaped plundering by grave robbers, it was discovered by English archaeologist Howard Carter, the leader of an expedition financed by Lord Carnarvon. Amid rumors that a curse had been brought upon its discoverers, King Tut’s tomb became a pop culture phenomenon, inspiring books, films and even a 1978 hit song by comedian Steve Martin.

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TERROR IN TEHRAN: The Iran hostage crisis began on this day in 1979 when approximately 500 Iranians seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking some 90 people captive, including 66 Americans. They vowed to hold the hostages until the former shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi — who was in the U.S. for medical treatments — was returned to Iran for trial. The shah died on July 27, 1980 in an Egyptian military hospital near Cairo. Fourteen Americans were released in 1979 and 1980, but the remaining 52 hostages weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981, after 444 days in captivity. The release occurred during the hour in which the American presidency was transferred from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.

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

Quotable:

“The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into a shared vision. As long as we have books, we are not alone.”

— former First Lady Laura Bush, who was born on this day in 1946