June 23: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

June 23, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1903, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “LONDON — The lawn tennis championship games opened at Wimbledon today. The presence of Clarence Hobart of America and some continental players gave an international flavor to the meeting. Hobart won his match in the open singles championship, defeating E.S. Franklin by three games to one. The scores were: 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0. Franklin is not among the well known players.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1907, the Eagle reported, “It is as if Nature or the God of Things as They Are had a pretty wise prevision of how matters would be in these later times, of this Greater New York, with its teeming, toiling millions, when She or He patted the earth into shape and stuck the patch of mountains we call the Adirondacks up the state for us to jaunt to. There is little doubt in the minds of many people who have ever taken the jaunt that they are about the best things in the way of mountains that Nature has ever done. When the dust of the city streets begins to choke in our throats, buildings of brick and stone to oppress, and the heat to curdle all the love of humanity in our souls, then the mountains up the state, those great towering Adirondacks, with their cool wooded wilds, their purling streams that lap and whirl over rocks, their peaceful, shadowed lakes and their great green calms, beckon us to them to rest and make ourselves fit again to live among our fellow men.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, JUNE 22 — With the death of William Fitzhugh Thornton Buckner, one of the last two survivors of the Mexican War, at Paris, Mo., this week, the 98th birthday anniversary of Owen Thomas Edgar of Washington found him to be the sole survivor of that historic conflict. ‘Well, I’m still here, but I guess there is not much left of me,’ said the Capital veteran when informed of the passing of his 101-year-old compatriot. ‘You are a pretty vigorous looking and acting man to be 98 years old,’ said one of the nurses at the John Dickson Home, where this white-haired, white-bearded but surprisingly active and strong old gentleman resides. Mr. Edgar is in splendid health and still has almost normal possession of his faculties … While Mr. Edgar seems pleased and gets a kick out of being the last surviving veteran of the Mexican War, he is very modest about his own achievements in the war that helped make history for the United States. He refuses to talk about it and is exceedingly shy and retiring when reporters come to question him and ‘write him up.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (U.P.) — Navy officials arranged today for a court of inquiry to seek the cause of the foundering of the submarine O-9 and loss of her entire crew of 33. A naval spokesman disclosed that principal witnesses would include inspectors at the O-9’s New London, Conn., base who reportedly certified to her fitness recently. Rear Admiral Richard Edwards, Atlantic fleet submarine commander who directed futile efforts to reach the O-9 crew in their steel tomb 26 miles at sea, revealed that first reports concerning the O-9’s activities at ‘swept’ testing grounds off here were not entirely accurate. According to Edwards, the O-9 and her sister submarines O-6 and 0-10 cruised to the Portsmouth trial area and conducted a series of underwater tests. Edwards said the O-9 tests had been expected to last two hours, so there was no immediate concern. Reports that the lost submarine fired a black smoke bomb were incorrect, he said. The bomb was fired by one of the other ‘O-boats’ to attract attention. Edwards said so far as he had been able to learn, the O-9 gave no signals, reported no trouble and attempted no communications after she disappeared from view. Naval observers believed an explosion might have occurred in the engine or battery rooms to send the ship plunging to the mud bottom 440 feet down, where water pressure crumpled her plate-steel skull. It was believed the two officers and 31 men died almost immediately.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” author Richard Bach, who was born in 1936; “Knots Landing” star Ted Shackelford, who was born in 1946; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was born in 1948; Misfits founder Glenn Danzig, who was born in 1955; Journey bassist and former “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, who was born in 1956; Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand, who was born in 1957; “Cruel Intentions” star Selma Blair, who was born in 1972; “I’m Yours” singer Jason Mraz, who was born in 1977; former N.Y. Giants center Shaun O’Hara, who was born in 1977; Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, who was born in 1979; “The Big Bang Theory” star Melissa Rauch, who was born in 1980; and Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who was born in 1993.

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CASH AND PRIZES: June Carter Cash was born on this day in 1929. As a member of the Carter Family — a group that included her mother, sisters and cousins — she toured as a performer from childhood. She met Johnny Cash on the road in 1961 and cowrote his hit song “Ring of Fire.” They married in 1968 and won two Grammys for their duets. They both died in 2003.

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GOLD STANDARD: Wilma Rudolph was born on this day in 1940. The Tennessee native won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter relays at the 1960 Rome games, becoming the first woman to win three gold medals at the same Olympics. She overcame polio as a child and won the 1961 Sullivan Award as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the U.S. She died in 1994.

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

Quotable:

“The triumph can’t be had without the struggle.”

— Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph, who was born on this day in 1940