July 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 9, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Polo Ground field is expected to be jammed to its capacity of 53,602 customers, paying from 55 cents to $2.20 to witness tomorrow’s all-star baseball spectacle. The game is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard time) and will be broadcast over NBC and CBS networks. How will Carl Hubbell, ace southpaw of the world champion Giants, fare against a batting order topped by Charlie Gehringer, Heinie Manush, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, with Frank Higgins, Al Simmons, Joe Cronin and Bill Dickey bringing up the rear guard of sluggers?” (Editor’s note: Hubbell did just fine. He pitched three scoreless innings and set a record by striking out five future Hall of Famers in a row: Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Simmons and Cronin.)

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Senator Robert F. Wagner, previously uncommitted to President Roosevelt’s court reorganization program, said today that he would vote for the compromise Logan-Hatch bill now being debated. Wagner said he will make a speech for the measure before the debate ends. He said, however, that he would have refused to vote for the original bill which the administration leaders scrapped in favor of the modified plan for reform of the Supreme Court.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND (AP) — Playing one of the greatest games of her life, Alice Marble of San Francisco today beat Kay Stammers of England, 6-2, 6-0, and in 25 minutes added the Wimbledon ‘world tennis championship’ to her United States crown. Alice gave the pretty English southpaw only 11 points in the second set, and from the very outset was so completely in command of the game that she never really was in danger. Queen Mother Mary and United States Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy presided over the center court from the royal box … Her triumph gave the United States a sweep of the singles titles, Bobby Riggs having won the men’s championship yesterday, with a chance to win all three doubles finals. Queen Mary asked that Miss Marble and Miss Stammers be presented to her in the royal box. She congratulated Alice on her victory.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle said, “(U.P.) — Reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off sharply today as the army and navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors. One by one, persons who thought they had their hands on the $3,000 offered for a genuine flying saucer found their hands full of nothing. Headquarters of the 8th Army Air Force at Forth Worth announced that the wreckage of a tin foil-covered object found on a New Mexico ranch was nothing more than the remnants of a weather observation balloon. A.A.F. headquarters in Washington reportedly delivered a ‘blistering’ rebuke to officers at the Roswell, N.M., base for suggesting that it was a ‘flying saucer.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “SEOUL (U.P.) — The United Nations command said today the main UN and Communist truce teams will meet tomorrow for the first time since Syngman Rhee caused the truce crisis in Korea. Gen. Mark W. Clark, UN supreme commander in the Far East, announced the plenary sessions would be resumed at Panmunjom. He then returned to Tokyo after conferring with South Korean President Rhee. General Clark said the UN would find out whether the Communists really want to sign the truce because ‘the United Nations intends to go right ahead with the armistice negotiations.’ He refused to comment on his meeting with President Rhee and dodged a question on whether he thought Mr. Rhee, who has threated to fight alone, would obey an armistice.”

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Jimmy Smits
Christopher Smith/Invision/AP

Richard Roundtree
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Shaft” star Richard Roundtree, who was born in 1942; “Strangers” author Dean Koontz, who was born in 1945; “October Sky” star Chris Cooper, who was born in 1951; U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was born in 1955; “NYPD Blue” star Jimmy Smits, who was born in Brooklyn in 1955; Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, who was born in 1956; Hole singer Courtney Love, who was born in 1964; Anthrax bassist Frank Bello, who was born in 1965; The White Stripes singer Jack White, who was born in 1975; long-distance runner and Olympian Kara Goucher, who was born in 1978; and Cheetah Girl Kiely Williams, who was born in 1986.

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MAKING AMENDS: The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day in 1868. It provides that no state shall have the right to abridge the rights of any citizen without due process and equal protection under the law. It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves after the Civil War.

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HIGH-WATER MARK: The highest tsunami in history was recorded on this day in 1958. An earthquake registering 8.3 on the Richter scale caused a massive landslide at the head of Lituya Bay, Alaska, which in turn created a tsunami of 1,700 feet. A 300-foot wave immediately followed, scouring bare about four to five square miles of land on both sides of the bay. Amazingly, only five people were killed.

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

Quotable:

“If you do the same thing too often, it gets to be the only thing you can do.”

— actor Richard Roundtree, who was born on this day in 1942