August 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 15, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1910, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The death of Florence Nightingale, at the age of ninety, renews emphasis upon one of the great heroisms of history. During the half century since Miss Nightingale concluded her work for the British soldiers in the Crimea, she has been one of the world’s loved and honored figures, her fame growing through her life of retirement until three years ago King Edward had a statute changed so that she might be invested with the Order of Merit, and a year later the freedom of the City of London was formally conferred upon her, although she was too feeble to attend the ceremony … The success of Miss Nightingale and her thirty-four women nurses in the Crimea is known the world over; it is one of those stories which our love for heroism will not let die. But the consequences of that work in after years have been of even greater value.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “The Canal Zone celebrated today the opening of the Panama Canal. The festivities, however, were but local and suggested little of the international significance of the event. With the official Panama celebration set for next spring, even the United States was not officially represented today except by the men who have long been in the Canal Zone. The steamship Ancon, owned by the United States War Department and leased to the Panama Railroad for service in the New York-Colon trade, was chosen as the first big vessel to be put through, signalizing the opening of the canal to all ships up to 10,000 tons register.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1927, the Eagle reported, “OAKLAND, CAL. (AP) — The first long distance air derby in history will get under way here tomorrow, with nine planes flying to Honolulu. Seventeen men and one woman — Miss Mildred Doran, 22-year-old Michigan school teacher — will travel toward Wheeler Field near Honolulu for a $25,000 first prize and a $10,000 second award, the gifts of James Dole of Hawaii. Ten minutes will elapse between takeoffs.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “The City Planning Commission today prepared to consider Mayor LaGuardia’s request for approval to allow the city to acquire a 500-acre tract in the Idlewild section of Queens, on Jamaica Bay, for ultimate construction of a third huge municipal airport, to be linked with Floyd Bennett and LaGuardia Fields by the improved network of Brooklyn and Queens highways. The Mayor moved to speed approval of the new air base after the Civil Aeronautics Board allotted $850,000 for the Idlewild project by asking the Board of Estimate to consider amending the 1941 capital budget to provide for initial financing of the proposed airport. Before the board can act, however, approval of the planning commission, which is believed assured, is necessary.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The world today entered a new era of peace in which Gen. Douglas MacArthur summarily ordered Japan to send representatives to Manila to receive Allied surrender terms. He acted as supreme Allied commander. MacArthur is expected to announce that Japan will sign on her home soil or in territorial waters — perhaps Tokyo Bay. Radio Tokyo announced the resignation of Premier Kantaro Suzuki’s war cabinet shortly before MacArthur’s order was dispatched. Suzuki’s war minister already was a suicide. American forces were ordered to cease offensive action last night. Tokyo broadcast to Japanese troops at midnight (1 p.m. Wednesday Japanese time) the announcement of agreement to surrender. MacArthur’s message also ‘directed’ the Japanese immediately to cease hostilities. But Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced that Japanese planes approached the U.S. 3rd Fleet after 3 a.m. Wednesday. Five were shot down. It was not immediately clear whether the attacks were continuing. Nimitz asked MacArthur to tell the Japs that we will shoot down any planes approaching our fleet. President Truman announced Japan’s agreement to unconditional surrender last night at 7 o’clock. There arose from the vast homelands of those who love democracy a shout heard round the world.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “Babe Ruth was ‘still critical’ last night. The greatest of the great baseball men fought on for his life in a bed of Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, on E. 68th St., Manhattan … Shortly before 11 p.m., Father Thomas H. Kaufman of St. Catherine’s parish, directly across the street from the hospital, visited Ruth and applied a relic of Mother [Frances Xavier] Cabrini to Ruth’s throat. Ruth still had his usual smile as he kissed the relic, the priest reported. Mother Cabrini was the first American to be canonized a saint in the Catholic church. The relic was brought to this country from Rome only two days ago, although not specifically for Ruth.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — A princess who may be queen someday was born to Princess Elizabeth today in a massive cream-colored mansion at the middle of London’s royal half mile of ornate palaces. Four doctors who attended Elizabeth at the birth of her second child announced in a medical bulletin that both she and the newborn princess were doing well. The girl, third in line of succession to the throne after her mother and her brother, Prince Charles, was born at 11:50 a.m. (6:50 a.m. Brooklyn time). Guns boomed a royal salute and thousands waiting in a chill drizzle outside Clarence House thundered a cheer when a bulletin announcing the birth was posted on the gates of the mansion where Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, live.”

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Anthony Anderson
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who was born in 1938; Songwriters Hall of Famer Jimmy Webb, who was born in 1946; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers), who was born in 1948; former Minnesota Twins manager Tom Kelly, who was born in 1950; Anne, Princess Royal, who was born in 1950; Space Shuttle astronaut Scott Altman, who was born in 1959; philanthropist Melinda Gates, who was born in 1964; “Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas, who was born in 1965; N.Y. Yankees World Series hero Scott Brosius, who was born in 1966; “Will & Grace” star Debra Messing, who was born in 1968; “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson, who was born in 1970; Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, who was born in 1972; “Species” star Natasha Henstridge, who was born in 1974; singer and actor Joe Jonas, who was born in 1989; and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, who was born in 1990.