January 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 15, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1906, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “‘Shall Football Be Ended or Mended?’ is the title of a group of articles contributed by Presidents Butler, of Columbia; Wheeler, of California, and Finley, of New York, and two of the best qualified experts on physical training in the United States — Dr. D.A. Sargent, of the Hemenway Gymnasium, Harvard University, and Dr. Luther H. Gulick, of the New York City public school system. The consensus of these writers seems to be that the ‘ending’ of football as a college pastime in America can only be averted by most radical ‘mending.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “An old saw says there is nothing sure but death and taxes, but if you live in Brooklyn and own property and the Tax Department keeps on as it has started this year, your taxes will mean sure death financially. Just now it isn’t safe for the assessors to go out alone nights. All Brooklyn is fighting mad, and every second man you meet is talking taxes and talking pretty loud. And when you come to think of it, a $300,000,000 raise in valuations is going it rather strong. In many instances among the small property owners, who are having a hard enough struggle as it is with mortgages and sewer and street assessments, the increase in assessed values will cause great hardship. In every section of the borough there has been an unusual raise in the assessed values, in some cases amounting to 50 percent or more. Is it not natural, then, that this question of taxes should be the all-absorbing topic of the day over here in Brooklyn?”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “Because of a shortage of applicants for nurses’ training, six of the 23 nursing schools in the Brooklyn-Long Island area will not hold winter classes, beginning in February, a survey by Mrs. Ethel G. Prince, executive secretary of the Nurses Association of the Counties of Long Island, disclosed today. And in the remaining 17 schools only 173 students have signed up, as against a maximum of 390 which they can take. High school graduates and other qualified girls, Mrs. Prince said, can still register. Information about nursing as a career can be obtained, she said, from the Nursing Council of Long Island, 1 Hanson Place, as well as from guidance counselors in high schools. All 23 schools conducted winter classes during the war years.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “SAN FRANCISCO (U.P.) — Marilyn Monroe honeymooned ‘somewhere in California’ today with Joe DiMaggio. The couple climaxed their two-year romance yesterday with a simple wedding ceremony at City Hall attended by a crowd of 500 well-wishers, mostly City Hall workers. After the ceremony they dodged the crowd and left by automobile for a 10-day honeymoon, destination undisclosed. ‘We’re just going to take off,’ baseball’s great man said. ‘The car’s all packed, jammed full of stuff.’ The film actress said she intended to continue her career as an actress, but she added, ‘I’m looking forward to being a housewife, too.’ Asked if they intended to have a family, both of them flushed. ‘Uh, sure, there’s going to be a family,’ DiMaggio stammered. ‘I’d like to have six,’ Marilyn giggled.”

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Dove Cameron
MTV International/Wikimedia Commons

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Adventures of Superman” star Phyllis Coates, who was born in 1927; Oscar-winning actress Margaret O’Brien, who was born in 1937; “SCTV” star Andrea Martin, who was born in 1947; Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White, who was born in 1953; former N.Y. Jets defensive tackle Marty Lyons, who was born in 1957; “New Jack City” director Mario Van Peebles, who was born in 1957; Oscar-winning actress Regina King, who was born in 1971; former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who was born in 1979; rapper and producer Pitbull, who was born in 1981; author and political commentator Ben Shapiro, who was born in 1984; “Liv and Maddie” star Dove Cameron, who was born in 1996; and singer and actress Grace VanderWaal, who was born in 2004.

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BIRTH OF A DREAM: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on this day in 1929. The black civil rights leader and minister was an advocate of nonviolence and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. After his death, many states and territories observed his birthday as a holiday. HR 3706, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, set aside the third Monday in January for the observance of King’s birthday.

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BLUE PERIOD: “Hill Street Blues” premiered on this day in 1981. The immensely popular NBC cop drama, created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, focused more on police officers than on crime and was applauded for its realism. It won numerous Emmys and spawned the catchphrase, “Let’s be careful out there.” The series ended on May 19, 1987.

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

Quotable:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on this day in 1929