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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “An arenic tournament has been arranged for the coming week at Luna. These features, which are free, are held continuously every afternoon and evening in the center of the park. In addition to the wire performers, tumblers, comedy acrobats and aerial features, a vaudeville programme is to be seen. ‘Before and After,’ a rural comedy with a cast of fifteen persons, is one of the attractions. Another is the mechanical and electrical reproduction of the ‘Titanic Disaster.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Eagle reported, “The Brooklyn Celtics, on whom depended all of Brooklyn’s soccer hopes this year, saved something from the wreck at last by defeating the Yonkers Football Club by the score of 4 goals to 1 in the deciding championship game of the New York State Football League at Tibbitt’s Field, Yonkers, yesterday afternoon. They retain the State title, thus becoming champions for the third year in succession. To some extent this is a balm to the wounded feelings of the host of followers and well wishers of the Celtics, who worked their way into the final rounds of both of the cup tie competitions of the United States and American Football Associations, only to see the cup of happiness torn from their lips at the eleventh hour. In addition, they lost the cup of the Southern New York Football Association, which they had won a year ago. After all, therefore, it is not an empty handed Brooklyn that bids godspeed to the soccer year which came to an end yesterday.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Eagle reported, “Charles Ruggles and Harrison Ford have been engaged for the forthcoming production of Edgar Selwyn’s new farce, ‘Rolling Stones,’ which will come to the Harris Theater on August 16.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “The thunder storm late yesterday afternoon drove a throng of 200,000 off the beach at Coney Island and put a bad ‘crimp’ in business there last evening. Most of the afternoon bathers made a dash for Luna Park, the pavilions, bath houses and the subway stations, where extra police were required to handle the crowds. Women and children made up the major portion of the visitors seeking relief from the heat. The usual Saturday night throngs from the central section of the city were kept away by the threatening aspect of the sky during the evening … The crowd on the boardwalk last evening was estimated at 75,000.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Summer, which comes in officially at 1 p.m. today, gave Brooklynites a blistering preview yesterday, setting the year’s record high of 92.6 degrees — and there is no relief in sight. The forecast for today was for fair and continued hot weather, with a high around 90 degrees. The weatherman looked hard and long but saw no signs of any mass of cool air in the immediate offing. It is a long shot when the Summer Solstice occurs at exactly high noon on June 21, standard time, which is the case this year.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “The 52nd annual parade and rally of the Brooklyn Diocesan Union of the Holy Name Society, commemorating the centennial of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, will be witnessed by overflow crowds today along Bedford Ave. and in Ebbets Field. The two sections of the parade will assemble on various parts of Bedford Ave. at 2:10 p.m. The procession will start at 2:30 p.m. with both contingents moving directly to Ebbets Field. Church members from Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties will participate along with the Brooklyn units.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “The Love Boat” star Bernie Kopell, who was born in Brooklyn in 1933; “Goodnight, Beantown” star Mariette Hartley, who was born in 1940; “SCTV” star Joe Flaherty, who was born in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ray Davies (The Kinks), who was born in 1944; “Family Ties” star Meredith Baxter, who was born in 1947; “Family Ties” star Michael Gross, who was born in 1947; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joey Kramer (Aerosmith), who was born in 1950; former N.J. Nets center Derrick Coleman, who was born in 1967; “Cape Fear” star Juliette Lewis, who was born in 1973; “Smallville” star Erica Durance, who was born in 1978; “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt, who was born in 1979; former N.J. Nets forward Richard Jefferson, who was born in 1980; The Killers singer Brandon Flowers, who was born in 1981; William, Prince of Wales, who was born in 1982; and “Young and Beautiful” singer Lana Del Rey, who was born in 1985.

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SOLAR SOLITUDE: The first manned private spaceflight took place on this day in 2004. Michael Melvill, flying the privately financed SpaceShipOne, flew 62 miles in altitude, leaving Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft was designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Paul Allen, philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder. SpaceShipOne made the flight from Mojave Airport in California.

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GET ON BOARD: Today is “Go Skateboarding Day.” It was established in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies and is the sport’s official holiday. For more information, visit www.theiasc.org.

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

Quotable:

“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”

— theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who was born on this day in 1892