November 28: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 28, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “MINNEAPOLIS — Three pumpkin pies — the kind that mother makes — were rushed 1,200 miles by airplane to a homesick young man in New York City, who never before has been away from home on Thanksgiving. The pies — with nutmeg — were placed in chemical heaters aboard an airplane at 8:45 a.m. At 4:45 p.m. they arrived in New York, where John Weston, 20, was waiting. John, a student, couldn’t face a Thanksgiving without some of that pie ‘from the best pumpkin pie-maker in the world.’ So he contacted the express company and the airlines. Then he telegraphed to his mother.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “CLEVELAND, NOV. 27 (A.P.) — Nine Greyhound bus lines, in a $6,300,000 damage suit, today charged the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen called the 16-state bus drivers’ strike to divert traffic to railroads. ‘That’s a smoke screen,’ countered S.R. Harvey, assistant president of the union. ‘There are no conflicting interests whatever between drivers and railroad men in the Brotherhood. In Chicago alone at least seven chairmen of railroad organizations are actively working with the bus committee.’ Meanwhile service remained paralyzed at Philadelphia. Seven of eight lines running through Newark, N.J., suspended operations. The New England Greyhound line abandoned its New York-Boston run. Greyhound claimed full service was resumed at Cleveland. ‘Higher than ever — nearly 100 percent effective,’ Harvey said of the strike. ‘Operations continue to be affected generally only 10 to 25 percent,’ a company spokesman said. The specific object of today’s suit was to recover triple damages for alleged destruction of equipment, obstruction of buses engaged in interstate transportation and intimidation of employees and respective passengers by strikers.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [Robert] Wagner plans to add 1,500 men to the Police Department before New Year’s Day and thus bring the department up to its highest strength in history, he said yesterday. The mayor’s announcement was interpreted at City Hall as a personal victory for Police Commissioner Francis W.H. Adams, who for months has been campaigning for a bigger police force. Mr. Adams’ hard-hitting public statements on the need for more police were believed to have materially influenced Mr. Wagner’s decision. Another contributing factor to the mayor’s action was believed to have been Mr. Adams’ concentration of police in Harlem. The Harlem experiment, experts said, proved that sufficient police on duty would curb crime. Next month’s graduating class from the Police Academy is slated to be sent to Brownsville as an extension of the Adams experiment. The annual cost to the city for the additional 1,500 patrolmen at an approximate wage of $4,000 each will be about $6,000,000. The mayor said he was going to accomplish the personnel increase in two stages. He said he had directed Budget Director Abraham D. Beame to issue certificates tomorrow authorizing the appointment of approximately 750 policemen. This, the mayor said, would bring the police force — now 20,878 — to its fully authorized strength for the first time in 22 years. Mr. Wagner explained that he would have to get Board of Estimate approval for the second 750 men. He said he would officially put the proposition before the board at Thursday’s meeting and clearly indicated he expected no opposition to the plan.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Red China’s threat to become the world’s third most powerful military and nuclear force has given a new dimension to Russo-American negotiations in general disarmament and a ban on future atomic tests. The growing suspicion of Peiping’s plans and motives, based on the invasion of India and its belief that war with the Western community is ‘inevitable,’ has already created a serious disagreement among disarmament and defense experts at Washington, and possibly within the Soviet Union. In appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Secretary [Dean] Rusk advocated continued efforts to obtain a ban-the-bomb agreement with Moscow. He was supported in this viewpoint by William C. Foster, who heads the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Although only portions of their testimony was made public, for security reasons, they favored attempts to achieve a pact with Nikita Khrushchev in the belief that it might persuade Mao Tse-tung to show similar restraint. Experts generally agree that Communist China will have a nuclear capacity within another year at the outside.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Berry Gordy, Jr., who was born in 1929; Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, who was born in 1942; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Randy Newman, who was born in 1943; “Gremlins” director Joe Dante, who was born in 1946; band leader Paul Shaffer, who was born in 1949; “Apollo 13” star Ed Harris, who was born in 1950; Space Shuttle astronaut Barbara Morgan, who was born in 1951; “Law & Order” star S. Epatha Merkerson, who was born in 1952; former N.Y. Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti, who was born in 1958; “St. Elmo’s Fire” star Judd Nelson, who was born in 1959; Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, who was born in 1961; TV host Jon Stewart, who was born in 1962; “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Karen Gillan, who was born in 1987; and “Reba” star Scarlett Pomers, who was born in 1988.

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: The Royal Society was founded on this day in 1660. The world’s oldest continuously existing scientific academy was established at Gresham College, London, with King Charles II as its patron. Scientists, engineers and technologists make up the membership, which has included women since 1945. Prominent fellows include Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. “If I have seen further,” wrote Newton in a tribute to his colleagues, “it is because I have stood upon the shoulders of giants.”

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FOURTH ROCK FROM THE SUN: Mariner 4 made the first successful flyby of Mars on this day in 1965. It approached within 6,118 miles of the red planet, taking photographs and instrument readings.

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

Quotable:

“Motown was about music for all people — white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone.”

— Record executive Berry Gordy, Jr., who was born on this day in 1929