Brooklyn Boro

March 13: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 13, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1891, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Stuyvesant avenue Congregational church, corner of Hancock street and Stuyvesant avenue, was crowded last evening, despite the bad weather, with an audience gathered to listen to Herbert Stanley Renton’s lecture on ‘A Day and a Night in a Volcano.’ The lecture and the stereopticon views treated mainly of the Hawaiian islands, and especially the great volcano Kilauea, 125 times the size of Vesuvius and almost constantly in action. Mr. Renton began with views in the different parts of the islands, showing the peculiarities of nature as well as of the people. Especially interesting were the views of Honolulu, which showed it to be quite a modern civilized town, with well built houses, electric lights, water works and nearly all of the improvements which one finds in a good sized town in our own country.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1904, an Eagle editorial said, “Congress is called upon to deal with a deficit of $42,000,000 as the direct result of a long reign of riotous recklessness. The situation marks the climax of an administration that has broken all records in the wasteful expenditure of public money. The Billion Dollar Congress of notorious memory, at its most expensive session, spent $232,000,000 less than this present session of Congress aims to appropriate. Millions have been poured into government ratholes like water. The insatiable maw of the Army has required $77,000,000 to appease it, and the itching palms of the railroads and the steamship owners are again reaching for their bit out of $15,500,000 for transporting troops and supplies in a time of slumbrous peace. The Navy Department, with a lump sum of $15,000,000 for ‘machinery,’ to say nothing of the $82,000,000 required to keep its wheels greased and its whistles wet in 1904, now asks for $102,000,000 for 1905. And, in the meantime, the street trust is figuring on million dollar chances in the bills asking for $28,000,000 for ‘fortifications, armor and armaments.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1906, the Eagle reported, “ROCHESTER — The long and eventful life of Susan B. Anthony closed at 12:40 o’clock this morning. The end came peacefully. Miss Anthony had been unconscious practically all of the time for more than twenty-four hours, and her death had been almost momentarily expected since last night. Only her wonderful constitution kept her alive … Miss Anthony was taken ill while on her way home from the National Suffrage convention in Baltimore. She stopped in New York, where a banquet was to be given February 20 in honor of her eighty-sixth birthday, but she had an attack of neuralgia on February 18 and hastened home … Miss Anthony herself had believed that she would recover. Early in her illness, she told her friends that she expected to live to be as old as her father, who was over 90 when he died. But on Wednesday, she said to her sister: ‘Write to Anna Shaw immediately, and tell her I desire that every cent I leave when I pass out of this life shall be given to the fund which Miss Thomas and Miss Garrett are raising for the cause. I have given my life and all I am to it, and now I want my last act to be to give it all I have, to the last cent.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “CLEARWATER, FLA. — The Brooklyn players will wear numbers on their uniforms this season, President [Charles] Ebbets having given orders to that effect today following a conference with Manager [Wilbert] Robinson. ‘I can’t see why all the clubs don’t adopt the plan,’ said Uncle Robbie as he gave his consent. ‘They probably will some time. Contestants are numbered in football, athletics, horse racing and other sports, so why not baseball? I suppose the only objection is that nobody will agree to wear No. 13.’ ‘That number is cut out on the score cards now, although I cannot see any objection to it,’ answered Ebbets. ‘I tried to have the Yankees adopt the numbering plan on our exhibition tour North, but they objected. I believe it is an excellent idea, and said so when I presented the resolution at the National League meeting. The St. Louis club seconded it but that is as far as it got. The Cardinals beat us to it in adopting the numbers, I see, but I am glad to follow them. It will help the fans and increase the sale of score cards.’”

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Mikaela Shiffrin
Giovanni Auletta/AP
Charo
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Mad magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee, who was born in 1921; Songwriters Hall of Famer Neil Sedaka, who was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1939; “Shameless” star William H. Macy, who was born in 1950; entertainer Charo, who was born in 1951; former “Saturday Night Live” star Robin Duke, who was born in 1954; “China Beach” star Dana Delany, who was born in 1956; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Adam Clayton (U2), who was born in 1960; baseball player Will Clark, who was born in 1964; rapper and actor Common, who was born in 1972; swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Kaitlin Sandeno, who was born in 1983; and skier and Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, who was born in 1995.

Neil Sedaka
Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP

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INQUIRING MIND: Walter Annenberg was born on this day in 1908. The publisher, philanthropist and ambassador inherited the Philadelphia Inquirer from his father and built the newspaper into the cornerstone of a publishing empire that included newspapers, magazines and radio and TV stations. He founded many enduring publications, including Seventeen and TV Guide, and served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1969-76. He died in 2002.

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DOWN TO EARTH: Apollo 9 returned to Earth on this day in 1969. According to author Andrew Chaikin, “Apollo 9 had fulfilled all its major objectives. At that moment, [Buzz] Aldrin knew Apollo 10 would also succeed, and that he and [Neil] Armstrong would attempt to land on the moon.”

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

 

Quotable:

“The true republic: men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.”

— women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, who died on this day in 1906

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