July 14: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 14, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1909, the South Brooklyn Home Talk reported, “Uncle Sam, not being interested in municipal divisions and city governments, does not recognize Brooklyn as a port of immigration. The thousands of men, women and children who first touch American soil when they set foot on the piers that line the South Brooklyn waterfront are merely so many units in the tables set aside for the port of New York in Immigration Commissioner Williams’ report and no credit comes to Brooklyn’s hospitable shores for the pleasant greeting they give to newcomers. Naturally, some of Brooklyn’s boards of trade and other civic organizations have long tried to emphasize the borough’s importance as a receiving port for immigrants, and a place of settlement, and they have pointed out that in normal years the number of future Americans who land at the local docks amounts to nearly 150,000, and even the low water mark year, 1908, showed a total of 60,000. So far, counting up to the end of June, over 60,000 immigrants have been landed in Brooklyn this year.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial said, “The Cobalt region to the north of Lake Huron is suffering as severely from the scourge of forest fires this year as Northern Minnesota and British Columbia suffered a year ago. The destruction of buildings and mining machinery is very great, but that is a reparable feature of the disaster. The lamentable loss of human life and the denudation of many hundred square miles of heavily timbered territory are far more serious calamities. It is probable that the reports of loss of life are considerably exaggerated. The gathering of precise information over such sparsely settled areas is difficult, and experience proves that on occasions of this kind there is a natural tendency to present magnified rumors as established facts. But there can be no doubt that many valuable lives have been sacrificed through the failure of somebody to take precautions necessary to protect mining settlements from fire.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, the Eagle reported, “BRIDGEHAMPTON, L.I. — The recent activity of the sharks along the Jersey coast and the fact that one was sighted off Mecox Beach here a few days ago by Philip Carter, a nephew of ex-Justice Hughes, has brought to mind that in years past the Atlantic coast, from Montauk to Shinnecock, was the chief fishing grounds. In inquiring the probability of there being any man-eating sharks in these waters now, a number of the oldest inhabitants of Bridgehampton say that they remember the time when they inhabited the waters about here in large numbers. Captain John Norris Hedges, who has lived in Bridgehampton for sixty-nine years and was captain of the Mecox lifesaving crew for thirty-nine years, says that it was not uncommon about forty years ago to catch sharks of man-eating variety off Bridgehampton Beach; but owing to the fishing the last few years which has driven the bunkers (a small fish which is a favorite food of sharks) farther out to sea, the sharks have not come so far inshore of late until this season, which he attributes to the fact that there has been little fishing the past few years, and that the bunkers are coming closer in shore, and that the sharks are following them.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “City Council President Vincent Impellitteri was to represent Mayor [William] O’Dwyer today at ceremonies at New York International Airport, Idlewild, celebrating at the same time French Bastille Day and the inaugural Air France flight from the airport. Henri Bonnet, French Ambassador to the United States, was to be on hand to dispatch the first Air France plane, a Golden Comet de luxe Constellation, about noon on its way to Paris. Alexandre Parodi, French delegate to the U.N. Security Council, will present to Mr. Impellitteri a gift to Mayor O’Dwyer from Pierre DeGaulle, Mayor of Paris. Yesterday, Henri Lesieur, North American manager of Air France, predicted that the French line’s first flight from Idlewild would mark the end of delays that have hindered the line’s operations at LaGuardia Field … Negro fighter pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group, whose ‘Red Tailed’ Mustangs won battle honors in North Africa and Italy during World War II, will participate in the aerial review of the U.S. Air Force planes flying in the President’s Day ceremonies at the opening of the International Air Exposition at Idlewild, July 31, it was announced by Grover A. Whalen, chairman of the Mayor’s Committee for the Commemoration of the Golden Anniversary of the City of New York.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Sunset Boulevard” star Nancy Olson, who was born in 1928; former N.Y. Giants defensive tackle Rosey Grier, who was born in 1932; former Sony Music Entertainment CEO Tommy Mottola, who was born in 1949; fashion designer Bruce Oldfield, who was born in 1950; “Glee” star Jane Lynch, who was born in 1960; “The Bad News Bears” star Jackie Earle Haley, who was born in 1961; “Lost” star Matthew Fox, who was born in 1966; former N.Y. Mets and Yankees third baseman Robin Ventura, who was born in 1967; four-time Major League All-Star pitcher Tim Hudson, who was born in 1975; former N.Y. Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who was born in 1985; and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was born in 1985.

Jackie Earle Haley
Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP

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HANNA-MATION: William Hanna was born on this day in 1910. The New Mexico native co-created popular animated characters such as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss and Magilla Gorilla. With partner Joe Barbera, he won seven Academy Awards for his Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts, and eight other works were nominated. The Hanna-Barbera team created the first animated TV sitcom for adults, “The Flintstones” (1960), and such favorites as “The Jetsons” and “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” Hanna died in 2001.

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SURREAL DEAL: Ingmar Bergman was born on this day in 1918. One of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century, Bergman directed such classics as “Fanny and Alexander,” “Wild Strawberries” and “Cries and Whispers.” He wrote or directed 62 films and more than 170 stage plays, mainly in his native Sweden, but was renowned all over the world and nominated for nine Academy Awards. He died in 2007.

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

Quotable:

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

— former President Gerald Ford, who was born on this day in 1913