March 11: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 11, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “With only four more days left before all those owing income tax to Uncle Sam, the people of Brooklyn have thus far shown no special initiative and, in fact, are somewhat lax in paying their taxes. Last night a staff of twenty five clerks worked on the second floor of the Federal Building until 6, and according to a statement made by John Cooper, chief deputy collector, the number of receipts filed to date is about the same as was filed for the corresponding date last year. An eleventh-hour rush is expected by Collector Rafferty, who has announced that for the first three days this week the offices of the Income Tax Bureau will be kept open until 9, and that on Thursday operations will not be suspended until midnight. Besides the number of clerks working with inquiring citizens in aiding them to make out their tax returns, there is a large staff of clerks in the mailing department, and according to Chief Cooper, Monday morning will witness the largest amount of mail received this year.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW (U.P.) — Secretary of State George C. Marshall will make his first major decision of the Big Four Foreign Ministers meeting today when he answers V.M. Molotov’s proposal to discuss the explosive Chinese situation. Mr. Molotov’s surprise move to broaden the German-Austrian conference into a discussion of turbulent Far Eastern affairs forced Mr. Marshall to take a definite stand at the conference outset. China is Marshall’s special field. Deputies of the Foreign Ministers met this morning to condense the Allied Control Council report on Germany for consideration by the ministers. Mr. Marshall indicated yesterday that he may demand China’s presence during the discussion if he agrees to put the Chinese question on the agenda. Mr. Molotov insisted that Chinese participation was unnecessary.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1960, the Brooklyn Record reported, “The Business Branch and the Montague Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, both housed in the historic building at 197 Montague Street, will be moved to separate temporary quarters during the next two weeks so that the old edifice can be razed to make room for another new building in the downtown Civic Center. They will be brought under one roof again when the new Brooklyn Heights Branch is completed sometime in late 1961, according to Chief Librarian Francis R. St. John. ‘We want to thank all the users of these two branches for their cooperation during the time of these moves, and regret having to briefly interrupt library service,’ he declared. ‘But we are looking forward to seeing Heights and business readers in our temporary quarters, until we have our new and modern building which will mean better and expanded service to the community.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Car thefts in the United States last month totaled 19,400, according to the National Automobile Theft Bureau. This was a 17 percent increase compared with February of last year. Ray M. King, NATB secretary, reported that car thefts increased 29 percent in the Southern states, 21 percent in the Southwest, 18 percent in the Pacific Coast states, 11 percent in the East and six percent in the Midwest. Approximately 2,000 of the cars, worth $1.5 million, will not be recovered. However, owners will spend countless thousands more on the cars recovered to repair them and replace parts that are damaged or removed from the vehicles. Thefts have followed the increase in the number of cars in the U.S. With 55.3 million cars on the road in 1955, 227,000 were stolen. Last year, with 65.6 million cars, 326,000 were stolen. By 1970, [King] predicted, about 700,000 cars will be stolen each year. To meet this problem, many police departments are increasing their auto squads and giving special training to patrolmen in the detection of stolen cars. Nevertheless, it is the car owner who holds the key to the theft prevention, he pointed out. Nine times out of ten thieves steal unlocked cars. If car owners locked their cars and removed the keys whenever they park, car stealing would be reduced.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who was born in 1931; journalist Sam Donaldson, who was born in 1934; “Animal House” star Mark Metcalf, who was born in 1946; Vanilla Fudge co-founder Mark Stein, who was born in 1947; “Don’t Worry Be Happy” singer Bobby McFerrin, who was born in 1950; producer and director Jerry Zucker, who was born in 1950; music producer Jimmy Iovine, who was born in Brooklyn in 1953; “ER” star Alex Kingston, who was born in 1963; “Patriots Day” director Peter Berg, who was born in 1964; “Stay” singer Lisa Loeb, who was born in 1968; “Empire” star Terrence Howard, who was born in 1969; former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu, who was born in 1974; basketball player and coach Becky Hammon, who was born in 1977; basketball player Elton Brand, who was born in 1979; and “American Beauty” star Thora Birch, who was born in 1982.

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A WORLD IN CRISIS: The first cases of “Spanish” influenza were reported in the U.S. on this day in 1918 when 107 soldiers became sick at Fort Riley, Kansas. By the end of 1920, nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population had been infected. As many as 500,000 civilians died from the virus, exceeding the number of U.S. troops killed abroad in World War I. Worldwide, more than 1 percent of the global population, or 22 million people, had died by 1920. The origin of the virus was never determined absolutely. The name “Spanish” influenza came from the relatively high number of cases in Spain early in the epidemic. Due to the panic, cancellation of public events was common and many public service workers wore masks on the job. Emergency tent hospitals were set up in some locations due to overcrowding.

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

Quotable:

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”

— author Douglas Adams, who was born on this day in 1952