August 7: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 7, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Fun history for New York will probably be made, beginning Thursday, Aug. 17, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brings ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to the Capitol Theater. Although this is an event in itself, the Capitol will also present Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in person on the stage between performances of the film. Judy is the little Kansas girl blown by a cyclone to the land of Oz. Mickey is not in ‘Oz,’ but he does come along a few months hence with Judy in ‘Babes in Arms.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “HOLLYWOOD (AP) — A brisk quarrel within the American Federation of Labor, enlivened by a dispute between actresses Sophie Tucker and Helen Hayes, thrust a strike menace into the nation’s entertainment industry today. In quest of a ‘showdown,’ Ralph Morgan and a half-dozen other top-flight motion picture players chartered an airplane for Atlantic City and planned to fly there tomorrow to lay the case of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America before the A.F. of L. executive council. Morgan, president of the 4-A Affiliated Screen Actors Guild, said the Guild and other 4-A units stood 30,000 strong, ready to fight for the rights of freedom from raids by other unions. He said the Guild would ask the A.F. of L. for an immediate decision on the status of the American Federation of Actors — variety Players’ group suspended by the 4-A’s and recently admitted to subcharter A.F. of L. membership by the powerful International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes. Lacking an amicable council-table settlement, Morgan said, the Guild may be forced to call a Hollywood-wide strike to make the I.A.T.S.E. recognize the Guild as sole spokesman for actors. The I.A.T.S.E., composed of 12,000 stagehands, technicians and mechanical studio workers, was reported considering a counter-strike of projectionists to induce producers to recognize the American Federation of Actors. Miss Tucker is president of the A.F.A.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — For good or ill, man has unlocked the incalculable power of the atom. He has entered upon the atomic age. His first use of this power — the same that energizes the sun and the stars — has been to make a bomb. It is the most terrible engine of destruction ever conceived. It may end the Japanese war soon. If the Japanese decide to fight on, it will demolish their homeland. But when the bomb’s work is done, its makers hope to convert its power to the arts of peace and to the enforcement of peace. Upon realization of this hope hangs the fate of humanity. Atomic power could remake the world; it also could destroy it. Its power to destroy has been made manifest to the Japanese … Yesterday President Truman gave the enemy another chance to accept the surrender-or-be-destroyed ultimatum of Potsdam. ‘If they do not accept our terms,’ he said, ‘they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “BOSTON (U.P.) — John F. Kennedy, handsome, blue-eyed son of the former Ambassador to Britain, revived a family tradition when he ran for nomination for Congress — and won. Though his father never held an elective post, Kennedy’s two grandfathers — former Mayor John F. Fitzgerald and the late U.S. Senator Patrick J. Kennedy — were men of winning ways, both in and out of politics. Kennedy, 29 and a Harvard graduate, decided to enter politics while lying on a hospital bed, recovering from wounds suffered as a PT boat skipper during the war. ‘It was either politics or the newspaper business,’ he said. ‘And the Kennedys always have been interested in politics. That probably tipped the scales.’ Kennedy won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative from the 11th Massachusetts District, and since nomination is tantamount to election, he undoubtedly will succeed 71-year-old James M. Curley in Congress.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “SOUTH BEND, IND. (U.P.) — A child in South Bend has figured out how to get to the bottom of the flying saucer mystery. Postmaster Frank Kettering received a letter addressed in a boyish scrawl to the ‘Mars postoffice,’ with a notation that the balance of the postage should be paid ‘by Marsmen.’ The letter read: ‘Are the flying saucers from your planet? If they are, please send one down, and send some pictures of your people, buildings and flying saucers.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “CHEYENNE (U.P.) — A sporting goods store today announced the winner of its trout fishing contest. He is Harland Troudt.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA (U.P.) — A newly-formed syndicate of 15 Philadelphia businessmen, headed by a drugstore chain executive, planned today to offer the Mack family at least $4,500,000 to head off outside bids for the Philadelphia Athletics franchise and ‘keep the American League in this city.’ Harry Sylk, bustling head of the Sun Ray Drug Co. and vice president of Philadelphia Radio Station WPEN, admitted that the profit motive, plus civic pride, is behind his group’s surprise offer announced late yesterday. Sylk said the combine, which includes wealthy realtor Albert M. Greenfield, hopes to meet with Roy and Earle Mack next Tuesday to combat the $4,500,000 bid for the franchise earlier this week by Arnold Johnson, Chicago real estate man who wants the club moved to Kansas City, Mo.”

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Charlize Theron
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Wayne Knight
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “A Prairie Home Companion” creator Garrison Keillor, who was born in 1942; Pro Football Hall of Famer and jurist Alan Page, who was born in 1945; TV producer Marty Appel, who was born in Brooklyn in 1948; political activist and author Alan Keyes, who was born in 1950; “Seinfeld” star Wayne Knight, who was born in 1955; Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, who was born in 1958; “The X-Files” star David Duchovny, who was born in 1960; Reason editor-at-large Nick Gillespie, who was born in Brooklyn in 1963; 2010 World Series MVP Edgar Renteria, who was born in 1975; Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, who was born in 1975; fashion designer Charlotte Ronson, who was born in 1977; “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” star Cirroc Lofton, who was born in 1978; “Limitless” star Abbie Cornish, who was born in 1982; Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who was born in 1987; and three-time American League MVP Mike Trout, who was born in 1991.