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May 25: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 25, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History
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ON THIS DAY IN 1870, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Fourteenth Regiment, two temperance societies, the Kings County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Association and the Sixteenth Ward Veteran Association are to parade on Decoration Day. At Cypress Hills, a chorus, under the direction of Mr. C.W. Cheshire, will sing. It is to meet at Bunce’s music store, No. 27 Court street, May 26, at 7 o’clock. The ladies are taking a great interest in the affair, and laboring hard for its success. The programme will include demonstrations at the Naval Hospital, Greenwood, Cypress Hills, Holy Cross and Calvary Cemeteries, and at Fort Hamilton.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1922, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA — Wilbert Hubbell, the Phillies’ right-handed pitcher, who was hit in the head with a line drive from Tom Griffith of Brooklyn in the first inning of the first game of today’s doubleheader, was carried to Stetson Hospital. There Dr. Boger, the Phillies’ club physician and resident physician at the hospital, diagnosed the case as concussion of the brain and an almost certain fracture of the skull. The Superbas managed to win the first game in the ninth inning when [Jimmy] Johnston and [Zack] Wheat hit for the circuit.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “County Court Judges Louis D. Gibbs of the Bronx and Reuben L. Haskell of Kings were the presiding justices at the two sessions of the Trial Practice Court of the Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University, held yesterday afternoon. The two cases involved an action by the State against ‘Ida May Steele’ on a charge of shoplifting. Judge Haskell at the conclusion of the evidence dismissed the case, while Judge Gibbs submitted it to a jury. The jury was discharged after it had failed to agree on a decision. The Practice Court is a feature of the pleading and practice court at the law school.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Eagle reported, “Frank Stoll, registrar and custodian of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, astonished a crowd of people Sunday when he climbed a tree at Flatbush ave. and Empire blvd. and brought down 50,000 bees which had swarmed on a branch. Asked today to explain how he had escaped being stung some 50,000 times and how the bees remained on the branch until they could be transferred to hives in the Botanic Garden, Mr. Stoll, for 25 years a beekeeper, said: ‘Bees are never dangerous when they are swarming — that is, when they are looking for a new and less crowded home. They were waiting on the branch for reports from scouts looking for the home. If a scout had reported while I was carrying the swarm to the garden, I would have lost the bees.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1930, an Eagle editorial said, “Last Monday the City Club made public a report on subway overcrowding in which it was shown that 35 percent of the passengers on the B.M.T. and Interborough subways during rush hours suffer from lack of facilities required by ‘common decency.’ What was meant by common decency, as set forth, included a demand for a strap for each standing passenger; room to move arms, at least to reach for a handkerchief; sufficient room to turn so that a passenger’s face need not be directly before that of another person, and enough space to permit a passenger to move freely toward an exit as a train approaches his station.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “MELBOURNE (U.P.) — Ten American army nurses, rescued by plane from Corregidor, ate a formidable dinner here today, had their hair done and went to see Walt Disney’s movie ‘Fantasia.’ They were offered ‘Dive Bomber’ as alternative entertainment but declined unanimously. They had seen plenty.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was opened to traffic today. All the pomp and ceremony at the city’s command was mobilized to herald this event — the greatest construction and engineering feat since the war and a development of supreme importance to the whole nation and particularly to Brooklyn. After ten long years of toil, men with strong backs, stout hearts and a fierce determination had conquered the East River to join at the widest point the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Eight lives were given to the task and more than $100,000,000 was needed for its completion.”

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Octavia Spencer
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Ian McKellen
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning producer and former Coney Islander Irwin Winkler, who was born in 1931; “X-Men” star Ian McKellen, who was born in 1939; “Roots” star Leslie Uggams, who was born in 1943; puppeteer and filmmaker Frank Oz, who was born in 1944; “Room 222” star Karen Valentine, who was born in 1947; Scorpions singer Klaus Meine, who was born in 1948; “The Vagina Monologues” playwright Eve Ensler, who was born in 1953; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who was born in 1960; former N.J. Nets guard Kendall Gill, who was born in 1968; Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer, who was born in 1970; “28 Days Later” star Cillian Murphy, who was born in 1976; Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, who was born in 1978; and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Aly Raisman, who was born in 1994.

Cillian Murphy
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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FATHER’S DAY: The Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia on this day in 1787. Among the delegates were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Elbridge Gerry.

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WORDS TO LIVE BY: Lyricist Hal David was born on this day in 1921. He and composer Burt Bacharach produced a sophisticated string of beloved songs, including “Walk on By,” What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “Close to You” and “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” He died in 2012.

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

 

Quotable:

“It is not the length of life, but the depth.”

— writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was born on this day in 1803

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