May 14: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 14, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “LONDON (AP) — Unofficial but usually well-informed sources said today the British Government appeared to have won its quarrel with the Duke of Windsor to keep Wallis Warfield from styling herself ‘Her Royal Highness’ after they are married. British society and persons to whom the distinction between ‘The Duchess of Windsor’ and ‘Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Windsor’ are vital matters cited the highly authoritative ‘Debrett’s’ as conclusive proof that the former King Edward VIII could not win. They referred also to the status of Queen Elizabeth herself at the time she married the then Duke of York and contended that only an act of the King could confer a royal title on Mrs. Warfield. Queen Elizabeth, who was the commoner-born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was raised to royal rank by King George V, her father-in-law, by a special announcement after her marriage in 1923. Today’s sources contended there was no indication that King George VI was contemplating such a step, especially in view of strong governmental opposition.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “HOLLYWOOD (AP) — Peace in the film studio craftsmen’s strike appeared near today as union leaders weighed a new proposal by producers. If the offer is approved by officials, the rank and file of the Federated Motion Picture Crafts will meet tonight to vote on final acceptance. It was understood the terms would send all strikers back to work and refer controversial points to the National Labor Relations Board. Union recognition is the prime demand. Meanwhile, Capt. William F. Hynes of the Police Riot Squad announced he had been informed ‘50 gangsters have been imported by rival labor factions.’ He promised to ‘drive them out.’ Little violence has marked the strike.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “An international organization of mothers was suggested by the Rev. Fred Robert Tiffany in a sermon entitled ‘A Mother’s Prayer’ at the Richmond Hill Baptist Church. Mr. Tiffany said, in part: ‘It is very fitting indeed that the first public service of worship in our churches after VE-Day comes on the traditional Mother’s Day. It is further significant that this day has been designated by our President in his VE-Day proclamation as a day of prayer in all churches. On no one does the burden of war with its bitter sorrow fall so heavily as upon our mothers. As millions of men and women marched away to fight, and if need be pay the supreme sacrifice in defense of human rights, human justice and human liberty, every mother has silently breathed, ‘For this child I prayed. O God.’ A multitude of international organizations will be revived and new ones created with the ending of the conflict in Europe and the coming victory in the East. There now confronts us a magnificent opportunity to form a new and effective fellowship. I would like to suggest to the mothers of the world that they form an international fellowship of mothers. If the mothers of the world were in the forefront of international affairs they would be united by the greatest of all human bonds, motherhood! Let their watchword be, ‘Mothers of the world unite!’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “TEL AVIV (U.P.) — A new Jewish state was proclaimed in Palestine today as Britain’s 30-year rule of the Holy Land ended. The Jewish dream of nearly 2,000 years — a state of their own — came true at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. Brooklyn time) as the provisional government broadcast to the world that a new Jewish republic called Israel had been born and would be defended against all enemies … Great Britain’s 30-year rule over Palestine ended at 10:08 a.m. today when High Commissioner Sir Alan Cunningham, symbol of British authority, stepped off Palestine soil to board the British cruiser Euryalus in Haifa Harbor. Cunningham’s act in leaving Palestine soil severed all connections between the British government and Palestine, even though Britain will not lay down her mandate officially until one minute after midnight tonight (6:01 p.m. Brooklyn time). Cunningham hauled down his personal flag in Jerusalem early this morning and flew to Haifa, where he landed at 9:30 a.m. Only 38 minutes elapsed from the time he landed until the time he left Palestine.”

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George Lucas
Nicolas Genin/Wikimedia Commons

Sofia Coppola
Siren-Com/Wikimedia Commons

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who was born in 1942; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gene Cornish (The Rascals), who was born in 1944; “Star Wars” creator George Lucas, who was born in 1944; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne (Talking Heads), who was born in 1952; Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, who was born in 1952; “Reservoir Dogs” star Tim Roth, who was born in 1961; former N.Y. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who was born in 1961; Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille, who was born in Brooklyn in 1962; two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who was born in 1969; Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Sofia Coppola, who was born in 1971; “Joan of Arcadia” star Amber Tamblyn, who was born in 1983; Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was born in 1984; four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski, who was born in 1989; and “iCarly” star Miranda Cosgrove, who was born in 1993.

David Byrne
Fred Von Lohmann/Wikimedia Commons

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THE GIIFT OF LIFE: The smallpox vaccine was discovered on this day in 1796. Edward Jenner, a physician in rural England, heard reports of dairy farmers who apparently became immune to smallpox as a result of exposure to cowpox, a related but milder disease. After two decades of studying the phenomenon, Jenner injected cowpox into a healthy 8-year-old boy, who subsequently developed cowpox. Six weeks later, Jenner inoculated the boy with smallpox. He remained healthy. Jenner called this new procedure vaccination, from vaccinia, another term for cowpox. Within 18 months, 12,000 people in England had been vaccinated and the number of smallpox deaths dropped by two-thirds.

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BANNER DAY: “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was first performed in public on this day in 1897. John Philip Sousa’s march debuted during the unveiling of a statue of George Washington in Philadelphia.

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

Quotable:

“Even in high school I was very interested in history — why people do the things they do. As a kid I spent a lot of time trying to relate the past to the present.”

— “Star Wars” creator George Lucas, who was born on this day in 1944