April 18: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 18, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1906, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “SAN FRANCISCO — At 5:10 o’clock this morning San Francisco was visited by the severest earthquake it has ever known. The shock lasted three minutes, damaging thousands of buildings and totally wrecking many of them. The loss of life is reported to be very heavy, especially in the tenement districts along the waterfront. Water mains were broken by the earthquake, so that the Fire Department could get no water, and fires have broken out in various parts of the city. Telegraph wires were destroyed and communication with out-of-town places is cut off. The City Hall is a complete wreck. Many of the modern buildings suffered less than those of brick and frame. The shock coming so early in the morning caused indescribable terror and excitement. Most of the people were asleep and rushed into the streets undressed. Buildings swayed and crashed, burying the occupants in ruins.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “In the Church of the Saviour (First Unitarian), the Rev. Paul Revere Frothingham of Boston will preach tomorrow morning.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Eagle reported, “The bell in Borough Hall tower at midnight tonight will ring in the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride and the day selected to ‘wake up America’ to answer once more a call to arms for freedom. ‘Wake Up America Day’ will be celebrated tomorrow with patriotic demonstrations, parades and meetings all over the Greater City under the auspices of the Recruiting Committee of the Mayor’s Committee for National Defense. The ride of Paul Revere will be emulated in modernized fashion by the flight of ten airplanes from the Aviation School at Mineola, over the Borough of Brooklyn, across the East River and over Manhattan. The flying machines will be in squadron formation and will drop upon the city circulars and pamphlets calling upon the men of the nation to enlist.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “Gov. Al Smith, who was chased by many a cop when he was a boy for playing baseball on the streets of New York, tossed out the first ball today when the Yankee Stadium was thrown open to the public at 161st St., in the Bronx, for the first time and the American League season opened in Greater New York. All sorts of ceremonies marked the addition to the Greater City’s sights of one of the largest show places in the world. It was estimated that the crowd numbered 50,000. The Yankees have as their opponents today in the first game on the new field the Boston Red Sox, who finished last in the American League in 1922, but had an uncanny knack of beating the pennant-winning Yankees. The Red Sox won 13 out of 22 games with the Yankees in 1922 and came within an ace of beating them out of the pennant.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, Eagle columnist Cleveland Rogers wrote, “At least three well-known British subjects are conducting long-distance sit-down strikes against the coronation of King George VI. Aldous Huxley arrived in New York last week in full flight from the big London show. So did Joan Haslip, biographer of [Charles Stewart] Parnell, who says the coronation ‘is going to be dreadful.’ Lord Marley, Laborite, wants Americans to boycott the affair, which he thinks is being over-commercialized. Lord Marley is still faithful in memory to Edward and says the fanfare is being used to offset popular sympathy for the Duke of Windsor. Meanwhile the Duke is directing a campaign to offset rumors that Mrs. [Wallis] Simpson has been exercising remote control over his activities. He denies specifically that he has been cutting down on his drinking and eating, or economizing to please the woman he loves. This is all quite understandable, especially to women. Edward was perfectly willing to give up a throne for Wally, but it is too much for her to expect him to give up his manly prerogatives regarding drinking, eating and spending money.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include opera singer George Shirley, who was born in 1934; music journalist Robert Christgau, who was born in 1942; “The Parent Trap” star Hayley Mills, who was born in 1946; “The Onion Field” star James Woods, who was born in 1947; “Ghostbusters” star Rick Moranis, who was born in 1953; “The Pope of Greenwich Village” star Eric Roberts, who was born in 1956; “Frasier” star Jane Leeves, who was born in 1961; New York Post columnist John Podhoretz, who was born in 1961; TV host Conan O’Brien, who was born in 1963; “Will & Grace” star Eric McCormack, who was born in 1963; “Doctor Who” star David Tennant, who was born in 1971; “Cabin Fever” director Eli Roth, who was born in 1972; media personality Kourtney Kardashian, who was born in 1979; “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera, who was born in 1984; model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who was born in 1987; and “Arrested Development” star Alia Shawkat, who was born in 1989.

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AND THEY’RE OFF: “The Midnight Ride” of Paul Revere and William Dawes began at around 10 p.m. on this day in 1775. The men set off on horseback to warn American patriots between Boston and Concord of approaching British troops.

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THE GIANT AWAKENS: The Tokyo Raid took place on this day in 1942. A little more than four months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Lt. Col. James Doolittle led a squad of B-25s that bombed Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya. Although the bombers did little damage, the psychological victory was enormous.

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

Quotable:

“When all else fails, there’s always delusion.”

— TV host Conan O’Brien, who was born on this day in 1963