December 29: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “New York’s weather, which was cold yesterday, became sub-zero today. The official thermometer, for the first time this winter and for several winters past, touched zero at 7 this morning, and then dropped to 3 below zero at 9. It was the lowest temperature on the Weather Bureau’s records for nearly 14 years, the last 3-below weather having been charted on Feb. 1, 1920. It was the coldest Dec. 29 since 1917, when the record low temperature for the antepenultimate day of the year was set at 6 below zero. There was some possibility, as the mercury continued to fall today, that that record, too, might be equaled or passed … As the freezing weather grew in intensity, the total of homeless persons who sought shelter in the Municipal Lodging House, Manhattan, increased to 4,005 men, 76 women and two children.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The threat of a crippling wartime strike of railroad employees ended today when three holdout unions assured the War Department that they ‘will take no action that will imperil the successful prosecution of the war and that they will immediately cancel the strike order.’ The unions’ promise was announced by Secretary of War [Henry L.] Stimson after their presidents had spent 50 minutes in conference with Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, federal operator of the railroads. The unions — firemen and enginemen, switchmen, and conductors — precipitated federal seizure of the railroads on Monday by refusing to follow 17 other rail unions in accepting presidential arbitration of their dispute. With only 18 hours remaining before the deadline at 6 a.m. tomorrow, the three unions rescinded their strike call as the army prepared to keep the railroads going with soldiers if necessary … The question immediately arose as to how long the government would retain control of the carriers. It was assumed that federal operation, technically speaking, would continue until the wage dispute is finally settled. President Roosevelt said at his news conference yesterday that federal operation would last only until the emergency was over. He wanted to restore the roads to private management as soon as it became certain there would be no strike.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.