May 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1910, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “With a thousand subjects of the King of England aboard the Anchor Line steamship California — although the vessel is equipped with wireless — Captain James Blaikie, his officers and crew and his more than a thousand passengers were thunderstruck last night when casually informed by the pilot who boarded the boat off Sandy Hook that Edward VII was dead and that George V had been proclaimed King. Great sorrow was expressed on all sides, and it was some time before the officers could figure out how the death of the monarch had not been communicated to them. The only explanation (and one that was confirmed by officers of the company on the dock this morning) was that the company’s officials presumed that wireless notification of the event that is attracting the attention of the whole world had been picked up from Cape Race, Sable Island, or some other Marconi station, during the previous couple of days. For that reason the New York office did not communicate the news to Captain Blaikie. Immediately on the receipt of the information, the flags of the vessel were half-masted.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “To make mothers day, May 14, equal in importance with Memorial Day is the declared intention of John E. Gilman of Boston, commander-in-chief of the G.A.R., in general orders for the observance of May 30, issued last week. The orders for the observation of mothers day read as follows: ‘The greatest of battles that ever was fought, Shall I tell you where it was and when? On the maps of the world you will find it not, It was fought by the mothers of men.’ Calling attention to the fearful suspense the mothers suffered, the report continues: ‘Our mothers fought greater battles than did their sons. Their hearts were torn with anxiety for the safety of their dear boys. Their very souls were rent with fear lest those who once nestled at their breasts were lying with mangled bodies on bloody fields, wasting away with disease or starving to death in prison pens. What our mothers were then, other mothers are now and ever will be. Three years ago there entered into the mind of Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia a beautiful thought, and as a result of that thought the second Sunday in May was designated as ‘mothers’ day.’ Let us, then, show our filial affection by attending divine service and by wearing in our buttonhole a white carnation on that day in loving memory of the mothers we loved and who loved us.’”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.