April 13: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 13, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Democratic tariff bill was introduced by Mr. Underwood into the House of Representatives last Monday, with the opening of the special session of Congress. An attempt is to be made to reduce the cost of living, and the tariff on most of the necessities of life is either to be decreased or done away with altogether. The loss of revenue that will result is to be made good by an income tax, graduated so as to tax larger incomes at a higher rate. No income under $4,000 will be taxed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, an Eagle editorial said, “Country bridges are the chief pork barrel features of a State budget. Governor [Al] Smith’s blue pencil has been pretty well used. He deserves commendation.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “What does the Dawes Report mean? If Germany accepts it — accepts it earnestly and in good faith — it means the first step toward Universal World Peace. If Germany does not accept it openly and full-heartedly, with the intention of living up to it, it means the beginning of trouble — not alone in Germany, but trouble extending to other lands where trouble is simmering and brewing today and waiting but for an excuse — for a bit of encouragement — to bubble and boil over tomorrow. That would mean World Trouble. Despite the following illogical query and answer, asked and answered by one who ought to know better — ‘What has the United States to do with deciding what Germany shall pay, how many billions France and others shall get? It wasn’t our war. It isn’t our funeral, or our celebration, and we don’t get the money’ — World Trouble would mean trouble for the United States. World War would mean War for the United States. And, if a World War comes, the United States will have a good deal to do with it, if we want to remain the United States.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1930, the Eagle reported, “PARIS, APRIL 2 — General Koutepoff, leader of the Russian anti-Bolshevist exiles, who was kidnapped in this city on Jan. 26 last, by agents of the Ogpu, the Soviet secret terrorist police, is now reported to be in the hands of the Ogpu and held in Lubianka Prison in Moscow. So far as is known here he has escaped death, although it is generally believed that will eventually be his fate, if it has not already been meted out. It is known that he was tortured by his captors and forced to disclose the names of his associates in Russia, all of whom have since been executed, according to reports reaching here. The Lubianka, in which General Koutepoff is believed to be confined, is the most terrible of all the Soviet prisons. It has been described as ‘the slaughterhouse of the secret police.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “The Children of Mother Nature and Papa Universe — to the delight of both parents — played a celestial game of hide and seek over the vast reaches of interplanetary space as the moon ducked into the rainbow-rimmed shadow of the earth late last night and emerged on the other side at 1:30 a.m. today. Man watched with mingled feelings as the moon, which generally smiles with a clear, bright light, turned a coppery orange, then a darker shade, and finally blacked out like a reeling drunk for almost an hour and a half. The sight was witnessed by millions of people in North and South America, and owners of television sets in the metropolitan area who didn’t bother to look out their windows. There will be an encore next Oct. 6 when New Yorkers will get another opportunity to view a total eclipse of the moon. Someday, say scientists, when we can get to the moon, we will be able to see an eclipse of the sun by the earth. Spectacular, they say.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include geneticist and Nobel laureate Michael Stuart Brown, who was born in Brooklyn in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Al Green, who was born in 1946; “Beauty and the Beast” star Ron Perlman, who was born in 1950; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Max Weinberg (E Street Band), who was born in 1951; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Destri (Blondie), who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; “Miami Vice” star Saundra Santiago, who was born in 1957; “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” star Caroline Rhea, who was born in 1964; “NYPD Blue” star Ricky Schroeder, who was born in Brooklyn in 1970; former N.Y. Knicks point guard Baron Davis, who was born in 1979; “Girls” star Allison Williams, who was born in 1988; and “Matilda the Musical” star Brooklyn Nelson, who was born in 2004.

Allison Williams
Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP

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FOUNDER’S DAY: Thomas Jefferson was born on this day in 1743. The Virginia native co-wrote the Declaration of Independence (1776), served as vice president to John Adams (1797-1801), and was the third president of the U.S. (1801-1809). He also founded the University of Virginia. He and Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration was adopted.

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MEET THE MET: The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on this day in 1870. Located at 1000 Fifth Ave. on the east side of Central Park, it is the largest museum in the U.S. In 2019, it hosted 6.5 million visitors.

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WOULD YOU BELIEVE…?: Don Adams was born 100 years ago today. The Manhattan native began his show business career as a stand-up comic and became a regular on NBC’s “The Perry Como Show” and “The Bill Dana Show.” He then starred as bumbling spy Maxwell Smart in “Get Smart” (1965-1970), winning three Emmys for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series. Adams also voiced the title character in the animated series “Inspector Gadget” (1983-85) and its spinoffs. He died in 2005.

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

Quotable:

“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House — with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

— President John F. Kennedy to a roomful of Nobel Prize winners, April 1962