May 17: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 17, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1893, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Norwegian flag is flying from the staffs over the city hall and court house today in honor of the seventy-ninth anniversary of Norway’s day of independence. About five hundred years ago Sweden, Norway and Denmark constituted the Scandinavian kingdom. Shortly afterward Sweden withdrew and Norway and Denmark continued in union. The constitution drawn up still exists. The compact between Norway and Denmark existed until 1814 when Norway declared its independence and chose Kristian Frederik as her king. Sweden then declared war on her sister kingdom and in the fall of the same year Frederik was forced to abdicate. Although Sweden and Norway are now united under the same rule, and each has an equal share in the government, Independence Day is still celebrated by Norwegians.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “LOUISVILLE, KY., MAY 16 (AP) — The momentous question of whether one should say ‘The Kentucky Derby’ or ‘The Kentucky Darby’ has been settled by the Times, it says today. In a cable to the London Times, the Louisville Times inquired if the Earl of Derby pronounced his name ‘Durbi’ or ‘Darbi.’ The answer received today said: ‘The Earl of Derby pronounces his name ‘Darbi.’ Therefore, since the race is named for the Earl, those who went to Churchill Downs this afternoon witnessed the 51st running of the Kentucky ‘Darby.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Eagle reported, “A mouse has taken his place among the stars of filmdom. He is Mickey Mouse. This is no figure of speech. Mickey Mouse has been signed up for distribution by United Artists, which includes the releases of [Mary] Pickford, [Douglas] Fairbanks, [Charlie] Chaplin and a few more of the stellar attractions of first magnitude. He is now appearing in a record number of theaters — 11,000 — while the maximum that any human star can hope to achieve is 8,000 in the United States, due to competition between theaters. Producing a Mickey Mouse picture is far different from the usual run of movie production jobs. Walter Disney, the thirty-year-old artist who conceived the idea for this animated strip, was practically the whole works when he started making the feature. Now that the demand has grown enormously he has found it necessary to build up quite a large staff to produce the pictures on a regular schedule.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “MONTS, FRANCE (AP) — Duke Edward and Wallis Warfield ventured forth from the Chateau de Cande Sunday night for their first social engagement since they were reunited. The Duke escorted Mrs. Warfield to the Chateau D’Azay-Sur-Inde, 23 miles from their retreat, where they were the dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Grafton W. Minot of Boston and New York. A bolt of lightning added a dramatic touch to the couple’s first dinner away from the chateau. While a toast was being proposed to their happiness, lightning disabled the electric plant serving the 600-year-old Minot chateau and plunged the brilliantly illuminated dining room into darkness. Candles quickly were lighted and the dinner resumed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “HONG KONG (U.P.) — Chinese Communist troops are expected to attack Nationalist-held Quemoy Island off Amoy soon, a Formosa [Taiwan] dispatch said today. It is the only one remaining to the Nationalists aside from Formosa and the nearby Pescadores. According to reports reaching here, the Nationalists recently evacuated Wanshang Island on the mouth of the Pearl River and Chensal Island in the mouth of the Yangtze, north of the Chusans. Formosa residents were glumly preparing for attacks by Soviet-built Chinese Communist planes to soften the island for an invasion, dispatches said. Members of the American Legation on Formosa said new evacuation plans for 220 Americans on the island had been prepared and forwarded to Washington. They did not call for immediate evacuation.”

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Craig Ferguson
Todd Williamson/Invision/AP

Sugar Ray Leonard
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Bruford (Yes), who was born in 1949; International Boxing Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard, who was born in 1956; former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno, who was born in 1958; “Orinoco Flow” singer Enya, who was born in 1961; comedian Craig Ferguson, who was born in 1962; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), who was born in 1965; former N.Y. Knicks guard Hubert Davis, who was born in 1970; New Kids on the Block singer Jordan Knight, who was born in 1970; Queens of the Stone Age founder Josh Homme, who was born in 1973; former NFL quarterback Matt Cassel, who was born in 1982; former NBA point guard Tony Parker, who was born in 1982; former N.Y. Knicks forward Channing Frye, who was born in 1983; and “Thirteen” star Nikki Reed, who was born in 1988.

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AND THEY’RE OFF: The first running of the Kentucky Derby took place at Churchill Downs on this day in 1875. Jockey Oliver Lewis rode Aristides to a winning time of 2:37.25.

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JUSTICE FOR ALL: The Brown v. Board of Education case was decided on this day in 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that segregation of public schools “solely on the basis of race” denied black children “equal educational opportunity” even though “physical facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors may have been equal. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The case was argued before the court by Thurgood Marshall, who would go on to be the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court.

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

Quotable:

“Fighters display two things. They display confidence, or they display a look that says, ‘I’m not sure.’”

— boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard, who was born on this day in 1956