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February 4: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 4, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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ON THIS DAY IN 1912, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “What will the game be like? The question was repeatedly asked at the Holland House in Manhattan last night after the football rules committee had ended its two days session and had announced the changes that it had made in the playing code. Certainly the rule-makers have radically altered the game, both from the viewpoint of the player and the spectator. What the sport will be like it is impossible to say until the new code has been tried on the field. Although this is not football weather, undoubtedly many a local coach will attempt the new game within the next few days, and some working knowledge of the rules will be obtainable … The principal improvement which the new rules are designed to effect is equalization of the chances of the offensive and defensive teams. It has long been contended that the defense in football was too powerful, especially when close to its goal line. The extra ten yards territory in which the forward pass will now be allowed the attacking team is expected greatly to relieve this condition.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Eagle reported, “Classes in eugenics for the young men and women, with prominent physicians as instructors, weekly dancing classes, billiard and pool tables, and bowling alleys are to be a prominent part of the equipment of the Flatbush Congregational Church, according to a progressive programme outlined by the pastor, the Rev. Lewis T. Reed, and adopted at a meeting of about 250 members of the church held last night. There was some surprise and considerable opposition manifested by the more conservative members, but the progressives were too strong, and they carried their point in upholding the pastor in his advanced ideas. “

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, FEB. 3 (U.P.) — The Commerce Department reported tonight that the national birthrate, which rose 30 percent above prewar levels in the year after Pearl Harbor, is declining and will continue declining until the end of hostilities precipitates another baby boom. The department’s Census Bureau reported 9,000,000 births during the past three years.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “A tanker with the first shipment of navy-loaned oil was ploughing through heavy seas, bound for fuel-starved New York today, as a new snowfall, coupled with sub-freezing temperatures, blanketed the city. The tanker, Mission San Luis Obispo, loaded with 110,000 barrels of oil for heatless homes and apartment houses, was due to arrive tomorrow or Friday. A navy spokesman told the Brooklyn Eagle that the tanker, originally scheduled for Boston, had been diverted to New York by navy officials in Washington following arrangements completed yesterday whereby the navy would loan fuel oil to the city. The tanker, owned by the Tankers Company, Inc., was en route from Aruba, off South America … Meanwhile the fuel oil scarcity continued. Yesterday there were 1,642 complaints of no heat, the largest number since Jan. 5, and there were 1,812 complaints of no fuel. The emergency pool of the Police Department Bureau of Planning and Operations functioned as usual. Ready for distribution today were some 74,000 gallons of oil and 28,000 gallons of kerosene.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “HOBOKEN, FEB. 3 (U.P.) – Thomas Cardinal Tien, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Peiping and China’s only Cardinal, arrived yesterday confident the Catholic Church will survive in Communist China. The 61-year-old Chinese Cardinal, who arrived on the liner Veendam, said ‘the steadfastness of Chinese Catholics prevents me from feeling too pessimistic about the future of the Church in China.’”

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Gabrielle Anwar
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Natalie Imbruglia
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former New York Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, who was born in 1939; 5th Dimension singer Florence LaRue, who was born in 1944; former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, who was born in 1947; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper, who was born in 1948; Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, who was born in 1951; N.Y. Giants legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was born in 1959; “Burn Notice” star Gabrielle Anwar, who was born in 1970; “Hot Tub Time Machine” star Rob Corddry, who was born in 1971; boxer Oscar De La Hoya, who was born in 1973; “Torn” singer Natalie Imbruglia, who was born in 1975; “I Don’t Want to Be” singer Gavin DeGraw, who was born in 1977; and gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson, who was born in 1988.

Alice Cooper
Chris Carlson/AP

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FRONT AND CENTER: Rosa Parks was born on this day in 1913. Parks was a seamstress in Montgomery, Ala., who was active with the NAACP. In 1955, when African-Americans were obligated by law to ride in the back of the bus, she refused to give up her seat to a white man during a ride home from work. She was arrested, found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined $14. This sparked the modern civil rights movement, leading to a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system, lawsuits and a Supreme Court decision decreeing segregation to be unconstitutional. Parks died in 2005 and is the only American woman to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

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WELCOME NEWS: The United Service Organization was founded on this day in 1941. The civilian agency provides support worldwide for U.S. service people and their families. USO centers have served as a home away from home for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

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

 

Quotable:

“No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

— civil rights leader Rosa Parks, who was born on this day in 1913

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