September 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 5, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1882, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “For the great labor parade in New York this morning the arrangements were admirably made. That it would prove to be a most imposing turnout had been confidently predicted, but that such a multitude of workmen would present themselves in marching was surprising even to those most active in promoting the demonstration. There was no confusion or disorder. Brooklyn, Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Paterson and other places contributed to the first division, as did that portion of the city below Canal Street … Almost every branch of labor represented had decided to make a day of it. Piano makers, cigar makers, cloth cutters, cabinet makers, bricklayers and those who work at a dozen other trades had agreed upon so complete a suspension of operations that nearly every manufactory in the city was closed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1883, the Eagle reported, “LONDON — A dispatch from the Standard from Amsterdam says: ‘The fact that the Dutch Controller at Katimborg, Sumatra, was saved, together with his family, indicates that the destruction in that quarter by the volcanic eruptions was not absolute. One European bookkeeper and two natives were the only persons whose lives were saved at Merak, where not a building was left standing. At Tandjong-Priok, 58 miles distant, the sea suddenly rose eight feet and then fell ten feet, causing widespread devastation in that region.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle reported, “Unhurried production is essential to high quality sound pictures, in the opinion of Jesse L. Lasky, who sees danger in the making of sound pictures turned out to satisfy a tremendous public demand, but of a quality inferior to silent films, according to a dispatch from the Hollywood bureau of the Film Daily. ‘If pictures are produced on this basis,’ states the vice-president of Paramount, ‘with sound regarded solely as a novelty to draw audiences into the theaters, irreparable harm will be done to the industry in general, for the public will soon tire of audibility on the screen, if it is not properly presented. Moviegoers will cease to be further attracted by sound alone.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “Publication of the new 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was announced today, and according to the announcement it’s a bigger and better and more tremendously astounding Encyclopedia Britannica than ever. Despite the name, the encyclopedia is now under American ownership, and the statistics issued by the publication office indicate, in the best American statistical tradition, that nothing like this has ever seen the light of print before. There are 24 volumes in the new Britannica and there are 1,000 pages in each. The complete text has more than 35,000,000 words — count ’em if you doubt it — written by more than 3,500 authors … It is the first complete revision since 1911 and the third since the Civil War.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “School registration will begin throughout the city Wednesday when principals, assistant principals and clerks will be at their desks ready to receive new children into the ranks of the school system and to direct last year’s students to their classes. Registration will continue through Thursday and Friday in the regular day schools in which classes begin on Monday, Sept. 12. Officials pointed out that children under 6 will not be received except in kindergarten classes, and children under 5 will not be admitted to kindergarten classes until all older children have been accommodated. Children who have never attended public school in the City of New York will be required to furnish a satisfactory certificate of vaccination. It is estimated that about 40,000 children will come to school for the first time on Sept. 12.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “TAIPEI, FORMOSA, SEPT. 4 (U.P.) — Shells from Russian-made artillery killed two American lieutenant colonels during a two-hour Chinese Communist barrage of Nationalist-held Quemoy Island yesterday, Nationalist headquarters announced. Communist artillery pounded the Nationalists’ biggest and most important outpost again today in what appeared to be a ‘softening-up’ process. The threat against the island, seven miles off the Chinese mainland, was considered so great that top-level Nationalist Chinese leaders held two urgent meetings in 16 hours. Unconfirmed reports said Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek attended the second conference. In Washington, both the State and Defense Departments confirmed that two officers were killed in yesterday’s attack on Quemoy. Informants said the men were assigned to the U.S. Military Advisory Assistance Group, headquartered on Formosa.”

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Michael Keaton
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include comedy legend Bob Newhart, who was born in 1929; actress and singer Carol Lawrence, who was born in 1932; Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski, who was born in 1936; civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, who was born in 1939; “24” star William Devane, who was born in 1939; “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” star George Lazenby, who was born in 1939; “Fitzcarraldo” director Werner Herzog, who was born in 1942; “Year of the Cat” singer Al Stewart, who was born in 1945; “Happy Gilmore” director Dennis Dugan, who was born in 1946; singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, who was born in 1946; cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, who was born in 1950; “Birdman” star Michael Keaton, who was born in 1951; historian and journalist Victor Davis Hanson, who was born in 1953; En Vogue co-founder Terry Ellis, who was born in 1963; “Charmed” star Rose McGowan, who was born in 1973; and former NBA shooting guard Lance Stephenson, who was born in Brooklyn in 1990.

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

Quotable:

“After September 1939, perhaps one billion of the world’s roughly two billion population were soldiers, partisans, and producers engaged in trying to kill people.”

— historian and journalist Victor Davis Hanson, who was born on this day in 1953