April 27: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 27, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1891, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “The report that the Hatfield-McCoy feud in West Virginia has been ended by a marriage between representatives of the rival families is denied.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1902, the Eagle reported, “Permanent residents of London are suffering from the efforts being made to prepare the city for the arrival of the coronation visitors. There is scarcely a street through which the procession will pass that has not been torn up. The private houses, restaurants and public buildings are, for the most part, practically in possession of decorators, and are permeated by the smell of fresh paint, which is giving London its new coat for the new reign … When the King and Queen were returning last evening from a visit to the Strand Theater, that thoroughfare looked as though a cyclone had struck it. Over a hundred policemen dotted the several blocks in the vicinity of the theater, and a multitude of colored lamps marked the excavations, which daily tax the ingenuity of even the London bus driver.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson wrote, “Two representative gatherings of the owners, publishers and business managers of the daily newspapers of the United States and Canada were held in New York City last week. These men were here to attend the fourteenth annual convention of the Associated Press and the twenty-seventh annual meeting of the American Newspaper Publishers Association. They came from all parts of the country. Each man is typical of the section he represents, each reflects the spirit of the newspapers in his domain, and each, presumably, reflects the spirit of the people in his domain. It has been said that the newspapers print what the people want to read, that the newspaper is a mirror of the tastes — literary, commercial, social and philanthropic — of the men and women who read it, and whose patronage makes it possible to continue to be a newspaper. In other words, the people make the newspaper what it is. In part this is true; in part it is wrong. With some the assertion — now regarded in certain circles as a figure of speech belonging to an earlier generation — that the newspaper is a molder of public opinion, is considered a superannuated joke. And yet the primordial motive of the first newspapers was to mold public opinion. Such men as [Benjamin] Franklin, whose newspaper was the first rebel organ in America, did mold public opinion, and they molded it well. The newspapers have made war; they have made peace; they have crowned and uncrowned kings; they have made nations.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “SHANGHAI (U.P.) — With the Chinese Communist forces reported closing in on the great seaport of Shanghai and ordering the British and Americans out of China, Britain reacted by ordering a group of warships to Hong Kong, the British crown colony. Former China President Chiang Kai-shek may play an important role in the drama at Formosa [Taiwan], where he is expected to set up headquarters.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “DAYTON (A.P.) — The only airman who ever got near a flying saucer crashed and died before he could describe it, the Dayton Journal-Herald said today. The newspaper printed a lengthy dispatch on the mysterious flying discs, based, it said, on hitherto unpublished reports assembled at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base. The Air Force investigation has proved that the flying saucers ‘are not a joke.’ Neither ‘are they a cause for alarm,’ the newspaper said. The closest any airman came to the mystery discs was on Jan. 7, 1948, when one was sighted over Fort Knox, Ky., the dispatch said. Four fighter planes were sent aloft to intercept it, but only Capt. Thomas F. Mantell was able to get close. ‘I’m closing in to take a good look,’ the newspaper quoted him as reporting by radio. ‘It looks metallic and of tremendous size. It’s going up now as fast as I am. That’s 360 miles an hour. I’m going up after it. At 20,000 feet, if I’m no closer, I’ll abandon chase.’ Mantell’s plane crashed a few minutes later and he was killed. The possibility that the discs are aircraft of a foreign country has been considered, but discounted, the newspaper said.”

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Jenna Coleman
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “La Dolce Vita” star Anouk Aimee, who was born in 1932; drumming legend Jim Keltner, who was born in 1942; B-52’s founder Kate Pierson, who was born in 1948; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ace Frehley (Kiss), who was born in 1951; radio host and Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder, who was born in 1952; Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin, who was born in 1952; former N.Y. Jets coach Herman Edwards, who was born in 1954; “Morning Train” singer Sheena Easton, who was born in 1959; U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who was born in 1969; “Doctor Who” star Jenna Coleman, who was born in 1986; “Truth Hurts” singer Lizzo, who was born in 1988; and 2020 World Series MVP Corey Seager, who was born in 1994.

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INSTANT MESSAGE: Samuel Morse was born on this day in 1791. The American artist and inventor conceived the idea of the electromagnetic telegraph in 1832. With financial assistance approved by Congress, the first telegraph line in the U.S. was constructed between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md. The first message Morse tapped out from the Supreme Court chamber at the U.S. Capitol on May 24, 1844 was, ‘What hath God wrought?’”

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PAWS FOR EFFECT: Today is National Little Pampered Dog Day, a day to remember that it’s OK to pamper your loved ones — including your dog. The day was created to celebrate those owners who truly care for and love their dogs, but also to bring attention to the fact that not all dogs are so lucky. Visit nationallittlepampereddogday.com.

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

Quote:

“In every battle, there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten. Then he who continues the attack wins.”
— Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who was born on this day in 1822