April 25: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 25, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1886, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “PARIS, APRIL 24 – A stock company with a large capital has been organized for the purpose of erecting the tallest tower ever seen in the world in time for the International Exposition of 1889. The tower is to have a total height of 984 feet and will be supported on four pillars higher than the steeple of Notre Dame. The whole structure will cost $208,000. It will be surmounted by a group of electric lights, which will illuminate all Paris, and will, it is estimated, be visible at Dijon, 197 miles distant.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Eagle reported, “TIFLIS, TRANSCAUCASIA, APRIL 23 (via Petrograd and London) – A telegram received here from Dyadin, a town near Bayazid, in Turkish Armenia, dated April 21, relates that twenty-three men have arrived there from Arzish-Kaleh and Suckham, near Lake Van, in Turkish Armenia. They bring a recital of the shooting and the massacring by the police, on orders received from the Turkish authorities, of local Armenians. These twenty-three men succeeded in escaping. The Turks have told the people about the clashes between Armenians and Mussulmans in Van, and particularly the massacres of Armenians. The Armenians of Arzish-Kaleh and Suckham have been called upon to provide supplies and assistance for the great number of refugees it is expected will come from the Vilayet of Van.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, an Eagle political columnist wrote, “The victory of Lyndon Johnson, newly elected House member from San Antonio, is being advertised as a triumph for the president’s court proposal. On the surface it was; but many astute Texas authorities suspect Johnson’s popularity as head of the national youth movement there would have afforded him a victory regardless of the position he took on the court plan.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “Lou Gehrig continues to slump. Old Rawhide has made but one hit since the season opened. He has been in slumps before, but this is the worst ever. From the stands it appears as though Lou is out of physical condition. His underpinning is weak. Three times during the Washington series he was thrown out when he should have made the base easily.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn has the largest veteran community in the United States, Thomas H. Garahan, assistant chief attorney of the Brooklyn Veterans Administration office, told members of the Municipal Club last night. In all, there are 425,000 veterans of all wars residing in this borough, Garahan said. He spoke at the April meeting of the club, held in the Officers’ Club at Fort Hamilton. Frederick A. Keck, chairman of the club’s veterans affairs committee, introduced the speaker. Prior to Mr. Garahan’s address, the 65 club members were taken on a tour of the fort. Col. Urban F. George, executive officer of the post, was host to the group.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “MOSCOW (U.P.) — Official Soviet newspapers said in unprecedented front-page editorials today that Russia is ready to discuss a friendly solution of world problems directly with the United States or within the United Nations. But the newspapers said they saw no evidence in President Eisenhower’s ‘bid for peace’ in an April 16 foreign policy address that the United States really wants to engage in such talks. The editorial reply to Eisenhower’s speech in Washington to the American Society of Newspaper Editors was published by Pravda, official Communist Party organ, and Izvestia, official government paper. Pravda and Izvestia bitterly attacked U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles for trying to convert the Eisenhower speech into an ‘act of war.’ Dulles’ ‘militant pose would hardly achieve its objective,’ the newspapers said. ‘As is known,’ the Soviet editorial said today, ‘Soviet leaders are not connecting their appeal to peaceful settlement of international problems with any demands to the United States of America or any other countries which have or have not joined the Anglo-American bloc.’”

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Renee Zellweger
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival), who was born in 1945; “Rocky” star Talia Shire, who was born in 1946; “The Mist” star Jeffrey DeMunn, who was born in 1947; three-time Super Bowl champion Randy Cross, who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; political commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, who was born in 1961; “The Simpsons” star Hank Azaria, who was born in 1964; Erasure singer Andy Bell, who was born in 1964; sportscaster Joe Buck, who was born in 1969; three-time Super Bowl champion Darren Woodson, who was born in 1969; two-time Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger, who was born in 1969; Basketball Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who was born in 1976; “Queen of the Damned” star Marguerite Moreau, who was born in 1977; former NFL running back DeAngelo Williams, who was born in 1983; and Olympic gold medal-winning triathlete Gwen Jorgensen, who was born in 1986.

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ALL HAIL THE QUEEN: Ella Fitzgerald was born on this day in 1917. The Virginia native, known as the “Queen of Jazz,” was a regular at Harlem’s Apollo Theater by age 15. After a stint as a big band singer, she transitioned to bebop and developed her famous “scat” singing style. Fitzgerald recorded more than 200 albums and won 13 Grammys. She died in 1996.

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ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: The Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on this day in 1990. Named for American astronomer Edwin Hubble, it is the largest on-orbit observatory and can image objects up to 14 billion light years away.

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

Quotable:

“The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made.”

— Basketball Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who was born on this day in 1976