July 30: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 30, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1868, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “A weak-minded person in Germany has gone mad in consequence of the impeachment excitement. He thinks he is President [Andrew] Johnson, and has been convicted. He was sent to the lunatic asylum near Bonn.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “BOSTON (AP) — The United States District Court today denied the petition of Charles Ponzi, get-rich quick exponent, to set aside the decision of the immigration authorities to deport him to Italy.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, Eagle columnist Daniel Lionel wrote, “The shark menace has increased in local waters since the ban on offshore fishing has been in effect. The scavengers have been reported close to shore and the other day they came up into Jamaica Bay to ruin our weakfishing. Pleasure fishermen, whether they sailed aboard party boats or chartered cruisers, did much to keep the shark population in hand. Self-respecting party boat skippers never missed a chance to either handline a shark or pump a few well-directed shots into their carcasses. Many a tuna fisherman has hooked into sharks while trolling or chumming for tuna and thus brought another miscreant to gaff. In the course of a single season hundreds of sharks were accounted for in this way. Unless there is some action taken on the shark question, we may expect them to increase in numbers and cause a corresponding drop in the amount of fish caught in local waters.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “A mass of dry, cool air was moving toward the city today, with scattered showers preceding it, giving promise of real relief from the hot spell which yesterday reached a peak of 97.8 — the highest mark ever recorded on July 29 and the highest temperature so far this year. The break is due tonight — after the city has suffered through another scorching day. The official forecast was for mostly hot and humid again today until scattered showers arrive late this afternoon. The high for the day was expected to be about 94. Tonight, however, will be fair and ‘not so warm,’ with the temperature in the middle 60s, the Weather Man said. Tomorrow is scheduled to be almost a perfect Summer day — warm, with mercury in the mid 80s, but with considerably less humidity than has been contributing to discomfort for the past week.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The Air Force offered today a combination of Summer heat waves and optical and radar illusions as a plausible explanation of the latest flurry of ‘flying saucers.’ Intelligence officers ridiculed the notion that the mysterious objects in the sky hail from other planets or Russia — or pose a menace to the United States. They were confident that new scientific investigations with powerful telescopes and special cameras would explain away the objects as ‘physical phenomena,’ such as mirages. And, maybe, cure the nation of sauceritis.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “SEOUL (U.P.) — A sergeant in Company A of the 5th Regimental Combat Team, last American to die in the Korean War, was killed only 80 minutes before the cease fire, the 8th Army announced today. His name was withheld pending notification of next of kin. An 8th Army spokesman said mortar fire felled the sergeant at 8:40 p.m., July 27. All fighting ended at 10 p.m. Forty minutes before the sergeant died, at exactly 8 p.m., mortar fire killed another American — a private in Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The Atomic Energy Commission today reported it is stockpiling H-bombs and A-bombs at a record clip under orders from President Eisenhower to keep ahead of Russia in the nuclear arms race. The AEC said in its 16th semi-annual report to Congress that it is producing atomic materials at an all-time high rate. It summed up this spring’s giant island-sinking H-bomb tests at the Bikini-Eniwetok proving ground as ‘successful.’ Noting that nuclear weapons have become battlefield arms as well as strategic city-killers, the AEC declared: ‘The nation’s atomic weapons stockpile, growing rapidly in total numbers, reflects a trend of increased variety and versatility of weapons.’”

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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include puppeteer and TV producer Sid Krofft, who was born in 1929; former Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who was born in 1934; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Buddy Guy, who was born in 1936; “Diana” singer Paul Anka, who was born in 1941; former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in 1947; “Thirtysomething” star Ken Olin, who was born in 1954; “Designing Women” star Delta Burke, who was born in 1956; “Running Up That Hill” singer Kate Bush, who was born in 1958; “Boyz n the Hood” star Laurence Fishburne, who was born in 1961; “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow, who was born in 1963; Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, who was born in Brooklyn in 1963; “Soul Food” star Vivica A. Fox, who was born in 1964; “The Brady Bunch Movie” star Christine Taylor, who was born in 1971; Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank, who was born in 1974; Volleyball Hall of Famer Misty May-Treanor, who was born in 1977; and “Chuck” star Yvonne Strahovski, who was born in 1982.