November 27: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 27, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1863, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “In conformity with the conjoined request of President Lincoln and our own authorities, yesterday was observed for thanksgiving and prayer. Its observance was very general, all places of business being closed, the issuing of newspapers being suspended and the places of worship in all sections of the town being open for service. A more beautiful day was rarely known, and the general tone of gratitude harmonizing gracefully with the beauties of the outer world was heighted to the utmost by the cheering news sent from Grant at Lookout mountain and conveyed by successive Eagle extras to the thousands of expectant hearts in Brooklyn.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “A few weeks ago when Orson Welles put on his radio version of the ‘War of the Worlds,’ the nation was swept into widespread panic as thousands of hysterical men and women made preparations to flee from invading Martian monsters. The radio audience has become more sophisticated since then. Yesterday afternoon when the Radio Playhouse Experimental Workshop broadcast a thriller over municipal Station WNYC about an unnamed foreign power which shot a rocket containing poison gas into this country, listeners took it in stride. Police Headquarters in Brooklyn and Manhattan reported they received not a single call and the radio station declared no one had telephoned asking if it were true … Director [Ted] Cott explained later that the radio group had no fear that the fantasy would be taken for the real thing. ‘The audience should be trained against panic by this time,’ he said.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW (A.P.) — Soviet Russian troops, in mass meetings following a ‘border incident’ yesterday in which Finnish artillery allegedly killed or wounded 13 Red Army soldiers, today urged the government to ‘adopt strictest measures.’ The meetings were held as Moscow awaited an answer to an ultimatum-like note in which Russia demanded that Finland withdraw her border garrisons to prevent a repetition. Today’s press campaign against Finland was strikingly similar to that which preceded the invasion of Poland and no mention was made in the newspapers or over the radio of the denial issued in Helsingfors that Finns had fired on the Russians. The press was filled with stock resolutions rushed through mass meeting of workers on night shifts, urging among other things in denunciations of Finland that the Soviet Union ‘reply with a triple blow.’ They reiterated the Soviet Union’s demand that the Finns withdraw their troops from the frontier, stating that otherwise ‘we will throw them out.’ Some warned that if the Finns were unyielding, ‘we will repeat the lesson given the Polish pans (landlords).’”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “FT. STEWART, GA. (UPI) — President Kennedy, in an off-the-cuff address yesterday during his inspection of troops here, quoted the lines of a poem he said was found many years ago in a sentry box on Gibraltar. It said: ‘God, and not the soldier, all men adore / In time of danger, and not before. / When the danger is past and all things righted / God is forgotten and the old soldier slighted.’ Kennedy added his own epilogue: ‘This country does not forget God or the soldier. Upon both we now depend.’”

***

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, who was born in 1951; former Space Shuttle commander Jim Wetherbee, who was born in 1952; “Revenge of the Nerds” star Curtis Armstrong, who was born in 1953; TV personality Bill Nye, who was born in 1955; “Prison Break” star William Fichtner, who was born in 1956; author and diplomat Caroline Kennedy, who was born in 1957; former baseball player and manager Mike Scioscia, who was born in 1958; Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, who was born in 1962; “Early Edition” star Fisher Stevens, who was born in 1963; “Head of the Class” star Robin Givens, who was born in 1964; “Alias” star Michael Vartan, who was born in 1968; Baseball Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, who was born in 1971; “Tug of Words” host Samantha Harris, who was born in 1973; and “Family Matters” star Jaleel White, who was born in 1976.

Michael Vartan
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

***

FORCE OF NATURE: Bruce Lee was born on this day in 1940. The San Francisco native was raised in Hong Kong and returned to the U.S. in 1959 to teach martial arts. He was cast as Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet” in 1966. He moved on to film, where he displayed an intense charisma that would make him a star. However, before he could enjoy this new success, he died of a cerebral edema on July 20, 1973. His films include “Fists of Fury” (1972) and “Enter the Dragon” (1973).

***

SPRING IS SPRUNG: What walks downstairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound? It’s Slinky, the classic toy that was introduced 77 years ago today. Developed by engineer Richard James, it first flew off the shelves at a Philadelphia Gimbels department store during the 1945 Christmas season. Four-hundred units were sold in just 90 minutes for $1 each. Since then, more than 30 million Slinkys have been sold.

***

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

Quotable:

“As you think, so shall you become.”

— Martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who was born on this day in 1940