Brooklyn Boro

November 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 15, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Lt. Gov. Charles Poletti, who declined last week to concede the election of Thomas W. Wallace of Schenectady, his Republican opponent, scored a net gain of just one vote in Brooklyn yesterday as the official recanvass of voting machines continued and orders were issued to speed the progress of the work. All canvassers engaged in reopening and examining 1,240 voting machines used at the election Nov. 3 in Brooklyn were directed by officials of the Board of Elections to report for Sunday duty today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Similar orders were issued for canvassers in other city boroughs. An unofficial tabulation of statewide returns in the Poletti-Wallace election by the office of the secretary of state at Albany is reported to show a plurality of 35,000 votes for Mr. Wallace. Election officials in all sections of the state have been asked by Governor [Herbert] Lehman to provide him with a detailed report of results when they complete the post-election canvass of returns which the law requires.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — Princess Elizabeth rested comfortably at Buckingham Palace today after the birth of her first son, a Prince who may some day be King, and all Britain threw off its somber austerity reserve for a rousing celebration. The Prince, second in line to the British throne after his mother, arrived at 9:14 p.m. (4:14 p.m. Brooklyn time) yesterday. Elizabeth, 22, was in labor less than two hours, and the delivery was understood to have been relatively easy … The Daily Express speculated that the child would be known as Prince George of Edinburgh. Elizabeth was known to have a strong preference for the inclusion of the name of her father, King George, in that of her firstborn … Several hundred persons gathered this morning before the palace where 10,000 massed last night when the birth was imminent and shouted their regard for the members of the royal family. Of Philip they roared, ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “The whine of air raid sirens and the rays of giant searchlights pierced the light fog over Brooklyn last night, setting off the first atomic air raid test of the city’s Civil Defense forces. Summing up his conclusions from the test, C.J. Randau, assistant administrator of Civil Defense, said it ‘demonstrated how New York is taking a genuine lead in putting across its Civil Defense exercises.’ Other Civil Defense leaders said they were pleased with the performance of 332,000 volunteer workers following the mock atom bomb attack. At 7:30 p.m. the ‘red’ alert was sounded on 579 sirens throughout the city and, theoretically, enemy bombers were approaching New York. Ten minutes later two imaginary atomic bombs exploded at a height of 2,500 feet over the city, one in the Bronx and the other, the more destructive, at the junction of Bushwick and Myrtle Aves. in Williamsburg, destroying everything within a two-mile radius. At 7:45 p.m. the ‘all clear’ was given. For the purpose of the drill, the emergency and rescue workers and the firemen converged on a section on the perimeter of the devastated area. The section, bounded by S. 1st and Rodney Sts. and Marcy and Metropolitan Aves., is being torn up to make way for the Brooklyn-Queens connecting highway. With its half demolished buildings and streets piled with rubble it resembles a bombed out neighborhood.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “Plans have been announced by Stanley J. Harte, New York realtor and urban developer, for the first use of Brooklyn air rights in major housing. The occasion was the signing of an agreement with the Long Island Rail Road for the purchase by Harte of approximately 230,000 square feet of its Bay Ridge freight branch. The transaction is in effect a sale of air rights with the railroad retaining permanent operating rights over the line, which runs in an open cut below street level. Harte anticipates construction of a middle-income cooperative apartment house development on the new site to be created over the tracks. Initially, he said, two high-rise buildings are proposed for the section bounded by 2nd and 4th Aves. and Owl’s Head Park and 65th St. in the area.”

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Shailene Woodley
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Kevin Eubanks
Rich Fury/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Downtown” singer Petula Clark, who was born in 1932; “Law & Order” star Sam Waterston, who was born in 1940; “The Shawshank Redemption” star Bob Gunton, who was born in 1945; “Vacation” star Beverly D’Angelo, who was born in 1951; “Animal House” star James Widdoes, who was born in 1953; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Michael Hampton (Parliament-Funkadelic), who was born in 1956; former Tonight Show Band leader Kevin Eubanks, who was born in 1957; “The Craft” star Rachel True, who was born in 1966; former N.Y. Knicks point guard Greg Anthony, who was born in 1967; Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger, who was born in 1974; “NCIS” star Sean Murray, who was born in 1977; model Lily Aldridge, who was born in 1985; “The Fallout” star Shailene Woodley, who was born in 1991; and swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Blake Pieroni, who was born in 1995.

Chad Kroeger
Arthur Mola/Invision/AP

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WIT AND WISDOM: Franklin P. Adams was born on this day in 1881. The Chicago native is known for his newspaper column “The Conning Tower” and for his radio appearances on “Information Please,” but his most famous work is the poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon,” a tribute to the Chicago Cubs’ double play combo of “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” He died in 1960.

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FOUNDER’S DAY: President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1939. The memorial honors Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the U.S. It was officially dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.

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

 

Quotable:

“Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.”

— columnist Franklin P. Adams, who was born on this day in 1881

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