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March 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 8, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The dinner of the Kings County Pharmaceutical Society at the Ritz last night was the means of starting a campaign against prescribing drugs which have risen to almost prohibitive prices because of war, and of having the Harrison and Boylan anti-narcotic bills thoroughly explained. United States District Attorney Melville J. France was one of the speakers who gave inside points on legislation aimed to prevent drug fiends from obtaining opiates. ‘The Harrison law, the Federal bill regulating the sale of narcotics,’ he said, ‘is very simple. There is no intention of harassing druggists in the enforcement of that law. It is merely a matter of bookkeeping. We want to see where all the opium goes to. What we are trying to do is to get at the sources from where this dangerous drug enters the country in great bulk … It is perplexing to run across a large box of heroin, as I do, and not to know where it can possibly come from. We must trace it and ferret out its source. But we know it is difficult for you druggists who are conscientiously trying to observe the law. You must suffer for the dealings of someone else — for the person who would destroy life and everything valuable for gain. The law is becoming efficiently enforced and eventually we will be able to stamp out the drug evil.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Spurred by the recent Brooklyn Eagle series which revealed the virtual non-existence of foot patrolmen on borough streets, the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association today joined the ranks of Brooklyn citizens and organizations demanding immediate action on the police problem by city officials. Copies of a resolution conveying the demands of members for ‘immediate and proper police protection’ were sent to Mayor [William] O’Dwyer, Police Commissioner William P. O’Brien, budget director Thomas J. Patterson and the Board of Estimate. The resolution was approved unanimously at a meeting last night in the bar association building, 123 Remsen St., during which members denounced police ‘lethargy.’ Placing the onus of responsibility squarely on the shoulders of city officials, the association specifically charged municipal authorities with the following obligations: ‘… to provide immediate and proper police protection to cope adequately with the alarming increase in street crimes, muggings and other acts of lawlessness in Brooklyn and, if necessary, to appoint additional policemen and policewomen for this purpose.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Roughly 75 persons were rounded up by Federal authorities today in a local crackdown on Puerto Rican fanatics which coincided with the seizure of six top Communists and two more Nationalist party leaders in Puerto Rico. U.S. Marshal Thomas Lunney said his staff, in cooperation with FBI agents, had served subpoenas on this many suspects to appear before three grand juries sitting in the Manhattan Federal Building today. Today’s roundup was the largest of subversive suspects ever held in the New York area in peacetime. Questioning under the direction of U.S. Attorney J. Edward Lumbard of the Southern District pointed up the importance of the action. Federal grand juries swung into action here at the same time similar panels were probing plot-hatching and terrorism by members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist party in Chicago. Federal officials in Washington have made no denial of reports that last week’s armed attack on Congress was part of a broader plot to assassinate key executive and legislative leaders.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Brooklyn Record reported, “The 3,000-member New York State Association of Trial Lawyers today backed a plan advanced by Assemblywoman Aileen B. Ryan, D-Bronx, to provide New York City’s three million subway riders with greater protection against accidents. Mrs. Ryan has introduced a resolution urging the Transit Authority to take swift action to implement the following safety measures: Train-to-train and train-to-station communications systems to keep passengers informed of the reason for any prolonged delay; First-aid kits on all subway cars to provide immediate assistance for passengers injured in an accident, and oxygen tanks at all major stations; Frequent examinations of all subway cars and related equipment, with a view toward replacing worn or obsolete machinery.”

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Lester Holt
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Charles Sykes/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include jazz saxophonist George Coleman, who was born in 1935; “Webster” star Susan Clark, who was born in 1943; Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz, who was born in 1945; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Randy Meisner (the Eagles), who was born in 1946; Songwriters Hall of Famer Carole Bayer Sager, who was born in 1947; Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice, who was born in 1953; “Dateline NBC” anchor Lester Holt, who was born in 1959; “The Practice” star Camryn Manheim, who was born in 1961; former NBA point guard Kenny Smith, who was born in 1965; “She’s All That” star Freddie Prinze Jr., who was born in 1976; and “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek, who was born in 1977.

James Van Der Beek
Greg Allen/Invision/AP

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ROBBERY IN PROGRESS: The Internal Revenue Service began to levy and collect income taxes on this day in 1913. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified Feb. 3, 1913, gave Congress the authority to tax income. The U.S. also levied an income tax during the Civil War.

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COLD WARRIOR: On this day in 1983, President Ronald Reagan, speaking at the convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” and “the focus of evil in the modern world.”

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

 

Quotable:

“Carrots might be good for my eyes, but they won’t straighten out the curveball.”

— Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Carl Furillo, who was born on this day in 1922

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