April 14: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 14, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1895, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 13 — Reports to the internal revenue office here show that income tax returns are coming in very rapidly and in some cases the appointment of additional clerical force has been necessary. It is very probable that the revenue bureau still holds that the sale of standing timber and royalties on coal minerals, oil and gas well products will be treated as rents and, therefore, not subject to tax. As to the salaries of United States judges, no official action has yet been taken and it is probable that nothing will be done until the courts have decided the question. It is believed that many justices already have made returns including their salaries among the taxable items.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, APRIL 13 — Nearly 30 percent, or 87,503, of the 307,255 immigrant aliens admitted into the United States during 1928 chose the State of New York for their future home. New York not only absorbed the largest number of aliens, but drew the greatest number of almost every individual racial group, according to statistics released by the Commissioner of Immigration. As usual, more than one-half of the new arrivals settled in States of the North Atlantic group, but the second largest group of newcomers exhibited a preference for Texas. The largest part of the Texas immigration was Mexican and this was the one racial group in which New York was way down on the list. More than one-fifth of the English immigrants chose New York State for their home, more than one-fourth of the French, more than two-fifths of the Germans, more than half of the Hebrews, two-fifths of the Italians, two-fifths of the Irish and slightly less than one-third of the Scandinavians. Africans (black), Greeks, Poles and Spanish-American peoples were destined mainly for the same State. More Dutch and Flemish favored Michigan, and Slovaks and Welsh Pennsylvania. However, New York ran a close second to these States in attracting these groups.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “TORONTO, APRIL 13 — The Rangers won the Stanley Cup tonight, defeating the Leafs, 3 to 2, in overtime. The Rangers, trailing by 2-0 going into the third period, came from behind. The victory gave them the series, four games to two.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “A driving half-inch snowfall with freezing temperatures that set a new cold record for this date snarled up street traffic during the morning rush-hour today and brought the city’s sand and salt-spreaders out of storage to open up bridges and main highways. The snow began to fall at dawn and came in spurts all morning. The temperature dropped to 25 at 6:45 a.m., well below the previous April 14 low record — 28.3 in 1940. Dr. Wallace E. Howell, the city’s official rain-maker, hoping to increase the snowfall, started two generators near Cobleskill, N.Y., belching a silver iodide vapor skyward at 11:30 a.m. If the plan works, it was said, the particles will stir the heavy overcast into a greater fall of snow — or rain — than unaided Nature would produce.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — All is confusion in Formosa [Taiwan] and Hainan because of the McCarthy Communist investigation, it was reported today. Alfred Kohlberg, president of the China Policy Association, explained that in the Chinese language the names of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy are identical in print. ‘Everybody in Formosa and Hainan thinks that MacArthur is trying to take over the State Department and is leading a revolution in the United States,’ he said.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “GREAT MISSEDEN, ENGLAND (U.P.) — A pub formerly known as ‘The Prince Charles’ was operating as ‘The Valiant Trooper’ today after the management was informed Queen Elizabeth did not like pubs to be named after her children.”

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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Christopher Smith/Invision/AP

David Justice
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actress Julie Christie, who was born in 1940; Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose, who was born in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple), who was born in 1945; Human Genome Project leader Francis Collins, who was born in 1950; “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Brad Garrett, who was born in 1960; former N.Y. Yankees outfielder and 2000 ALCS MVP David Justice, who was born in 1966; Baseball Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who was born in 1966; “The Breakfast Club” star Anthony Michael Hall, who was born in 1968; “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was born in 1977; and “Scream Queens” star Abigail Breslin, who was born in 1996.

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“NOW HE BELONGS TO THE AGES:” President Abraham Lincoln was shot on this day in 1865. Less than a week after the end of the Civil War, the president was enjoying a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington when actor John Wilkes Booth, a Southern sympathizer, fired a bullet into the back of his head. Lincoln died the next day. The Great Emancipator was 56.

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TROUBLED WATERS: The Titanic hit an iceberg on this day in 1912. The “unsinkable” luxury liner, on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, sank early the next morning. More than 1,500 of the 2,224 people aboard died. About 700 were rescued by the liner Carpathia, which reached the scene two hours after the Titanic went down.

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

Quotable:

“The manager of a team is like a stagecoach. He can’t move unless he has the horses.”

— baseball player Pete Rose, who was born on this day in 1941