December 30: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

December 30, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1909, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “At five o’clock tomorrow afternoon, the first ticket will be sold on the new Manhattan Bridge, and continuously thereafter the structure, which has been built at a cost of $13,000,000, outside of land for approaches, will be turning a revenue into the city treasury. Public vehicular traffic will be admitted to the roadway after the formal opening, which starts at 2 o’clock. Automobiles and wagons will pay the regular 10-cent and 5-cent tolls that are collected on the other East River bridges. It is anticipated that there will be keen competition for the privilege of purchasing the first ticket, and arrangements are being made with the police department for regulation of crowds. The toll boxes at which tickets will be sold and collected were set up at either end of the roadway today, following their delivery yesterday afternoon. There are two at the Brooklyn end of the bridge and two at the Manhattan end, and all that remains to be done in respect to traffic is to man the little booths.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1912, the Eagle reported, “The Broadway and Times Square associations have sent a long communication to the Public Service Commission, urging the great importance of the B.R.T. establishing an express station at Times Square, when the new subway system is completed. Attention is called to the great amount of traffic that is done at Forty-second street and Broadway, much of it from Brooklyn, on account of this point being in the heart of the theatrical district. ‘What is likely to occur if the B.R.T. has no express station at Forty-second street is illustrated nightly on the present subway,’ says the communication. ‘Since Times Square station is only a local, the thousands of theatergoers have to transfer from and to the expresses at Seventy-second street and the Grand Central stations. As the rush hours approach, there is a greater and greater congestion at these transfer points.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle reported, “The retiring governor and the governor-elect are spending this, their last weekend before the inaugural, completing preparations for the change in administration of the state government that will occur on Tuesday at noon. Governor [Al] Smith, who will return to the sidewalks of New York after 25 years of public life, was the guest of honor last night at a dinner given to him by the Albany Chamber of Commerce at the DeWitt Clinton Hotel and attended by state and county officials as well as those of his adopted city. Franklin D. Roosevelt was resting at his country estate Crum Elbow, overlooking the Hudson at Hyde Park, confident that his cabinet, composed of Governor Smith’s experts and new members whose appointments have met with wide favor because of their ability, will enable him to carry through his legislative program and successfully combat the Republican majorities in the Senate and the Assembly.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “DUBLIN (U.P.) — Ray Bradbury, a leading American chronicler of the fictional future, admitted today he shuns the most commonplace inventions in present-day use. Bradbury, whose stories are full of men from Mars and spaceships, doesn’t own an automobile, wouldn’t take a television set as a gift and only installed a telephone as a result of determined pressure from his Hollywood agent.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “MIAMI (UPI) — President Kennedy told 40,000 emotion-choked Cubans yesterday that the proud battle flag of Brigade 2506 — the contingent that staged the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion — will one day fly over a ‘Free Havana.’ The President’s wife, Jacqueline, followed him to the speakers’ stand and brought down the house by delivering a brief, touching speech in Spanish. Many in the huge assemblage dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs when, after gazing over the ransomed prisoners, the first lady said simply: ‘It is an honor for me to be today with a group of the bravest men in the world.’ The drama unfolded in Miami’s huge Orange Bowl stadium, where more than 1,200 khaki-uniformed survivors of the ill-fated invasion stood at stiff attention for 30 minutes while the president slowly reviewed the ranks, stopping to talk to about every third man. Kennedy told the crowd the Brigade’s ‘conduct and valor are proof that although [Fidel] Castro and his fellow dictators may rule nations, they do not rule people; that they may imprison bodies, but they do not imprison spirits; that they may destroy the exercise of liberty, but they cannot eliminate the determination to be free.’”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who was born in Brooklyn in 1935; former NFL player Jim Marshall, who was born in 1937; singer-songwriter Paul Stookey, who was born in 1937; “Cheers” co-creator Jim Burrows, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, who was born in 1946; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jeff Lynne (ELO), who was born in 1947; TV personality Meredith Vieira, who was born in 1953; “Moesha” star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was born in 1956; actress and comedian Tracey Ullman, who was born in 1959; political commentator Sean Hannity, who was born in 1961; former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was born in 1963; golfer Tiger Woods, who was born in 1975; “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Eliza Dushku, who was born in 1980; and L.A. Lakers forward LeBron James, who was born in 1984.

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BEST WESTERN: “The Roy Rogers Show” premiered on TV on this day in 1951. It starred Rogers and his wife Dale Evans, Pat Brady as Rogers’ sidekick who drove a jeep named Nellybelle, the singing group Sons of the Pioneers, Rogers’ horse Trigger, Evans’ horse Buttermilk and a German shepherd named Bullet. The half-hour show was especially popular with young viewers.

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THE FULL MONTY: “Let’s Make a Deal” premiered on this day in 1963. Monty Hall hosted the outrageous and no-skill-required game show. Audience members, many of whom wore costumes, were selected to sit in the trading area, and some were picked to “make a deal” with Hall by trading something of their own for something they were offered. At the end of the show, the two people who had won the most were given the option to trade their winnings for a chance at the “Big Deal” hidden behind one of three doors. A 21st-century revival is hosted by Wayne Brady.

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

Quotable:

“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”

— Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1935