January 12: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 12, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Superintendent Stewart of Bellevue Hospital said this morning that reports and rumors of a strike among nurses at that institution were groundless and evidently inspired. He said that he had held a long conference with Mrs. Ada Willard, the superintendent of the Mills Training School. Mrs. Willard told him that, although some of the nurses had resigned, there was nothing in the talk of a strike. The nurses are complaining about the quantity and the quality of the food supplied them, but a number of them seen this morning laugh at the idea of a strike.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “An increase in fare on all of the city’s rapid transit lines from five cents a ride to two rides for 15 cents or a single ride for 10 cents today was being considered on the recommendation of the Committee of Fifteen, headed by former Corporation Counsel Paul Windels. Although the committee’s formal proposal referred to rapid transit fares only, coupled with a system of universal free transfers on all subway lines, it always has been assumed by city officials that any such rise must be followed by similar increases on trolley and bus lines. The recommendation was one of several in a report made by the committee, organized in 1940 by representatives of leading business, industrial and real estate groups. Another proposal would convert the Board of Transportation into a Transit Authority, with power to make the city’s system self-liquidating and to issue its own bonds to finance extensions approved by the Board of Estimate and the City Planning Commission.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — President Truman today sent to a Republican Congress, which is sure to rip it apart, a cold war budget for spending more than $39,668,000,000 in the fiscal year of 1949. That is a spending increase of $1,941,218,622 over the current fiscal year. But Mr. Truman called the new budget ‘even more realistic and hardboiled than the budget of 1948.’ He cited the international emergency, rising prices and demands of public interest as factors forcing spending up. He asked for funds to start new programs which would run into billions of dollars annually in future years — a national health insurance plan, vastly broadened old-age and unemployment insurance coverage, and universal military training among others … For the cold war, Mr. Truman asked Congress to spend a whopping $18,033,000,000 for national defense and international affairs and finance. That is 46 percent of the total of proposed 1949 expenditures. It includes the European recovery program, aid to China and to several other nations. It does not include $660,000,000 sought for the Atomic Energy Commission. Atomic energy spending is listed as a natural resource expenditure.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “LOS ANGELES, JAN. 8 (UPI) — Football fatalities decreased nearly 30 percent during 1962 and could be reduced even more, Dr. Floyd R. Eastwood said today in his annual report to the American Football Coaches’ Association. Dr. Eastwood, chairman of the Football Fatalities Committee, said football deaths had dropped from 37 in 1961 to 26 in 1962, a decrease of 29.7 percent. The report noted that 7 of 19 deaths attributed directly to participation in football came by mid-September. ‘Our whole problem of preseason training is tremendous,’ Dr. Eastwood reported, noting that most teams by mid-September had played only one or two games. Dr. Eastwood’s report stated that some of the main causes of deaths during the past season were gang-play, vicious head-tackling and face-blocking. He recommended de-emphasis on that type of play and said if it were more closely regulated it would bring about a corresponding decrease in fatalities in the future. Dr. Eastwood also stressed more and better supervision, pointing out that 23 percent of the football deaths during the 31 years they have been checked have been found to occur in unsupervised sandlot play.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include magician Kreskin, who was born in 1935; “Goldfinger” star Shirley Eaton, who was born in 1937; “Brideshead Revisited” star Anthony Andrews, who was born in 1948; Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Pearson, who was born in 1951; country singer Ricky Van Shelton, who was born in 1952; “Devil in a Blue Dress” author Walter Mosley, who was born in 1952; radio host Howard Stern, who was born in 1954; “The Bronx is Burning” star Oliver Platt, who was born in 1960; Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, who was born in 1960; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who was born in 1964; singer-songwriter Rob Zombie, who was born in 1965; “Insecure” star Issa Rae, who was born in 1985; and former One Direction singer Zayn Malik, who was born in 1993.

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UNDERDOG IS HERE: The New York Jets won Super Bowl III on this day in 1969, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, 16-7. Quarterback Joe Namath was the game’s Most Valuable Player. It was a great time to be a New Yorker at Baltimore’s expense. In October 1969 the Mets defeated the Orioles in the World Series, and in May 1970 the Knicks beat the Bullets in the NBA Finals.

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TO THE RESCUE: On this day in 1991, Congress passed a resolution authorizing President George H.W. Bush to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait, which was invaded on Aug. 2, 1990. It was the sixth congressional vote in U.S. history declaring war or authorizing force on another nation.

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

Quotable:

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

— statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, who was born on this day in 1729