October 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 2, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1869, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There are indications that the troubled period through which our earth has been passing amid volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, eclipses, meteor showers, and other startling phenomena, is not yet ended. Disturbances in South America threaten a repetition of the convulsions of last year. The people of the West Indies are reminded that they cannot long hope to have peace. An experienced weather prophet asserts with emphasis that the late New England gale will be followed shortly by one more tremendous, and an earthquake prophet prepares the Californians for dreadful disasters. Philosophers are busy investigating the causes of these grave results, but people who are not philosophers are chiefly concerned with the facts themselves. We have been taught to believe that the volcanic and earthquake stage had become historical, but that theory is getting negatived. The demonstrations are as violent as they ever were, and seem to be extending over a wider field of operations. Hurricanes are no longer confined to tropical regions, and who can tell at what moment our quiet mountains may develop fiery craters? Some time ago we republished from that non-sensational journal, the London Spectator, an article going to show that the mysterious magnetic influence pervading the solar system probably has a moral and intellectual as well as a material effect, and that there might be a close relation to human passions and natural phenomena. Are earthquakes and sea-bores and eclipses responsible for the financial crisis and gold-gambling in Wall Street?”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1897, the Eagle reported, “The dedication of the first section of the museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences took place this afternoon with an impressive ceremony. At 3 o’clock the exercises began in the American gallery of the institute building on Eastern parkway. This large and handsome room will be the sculpture gallery when the magnificent home of the institute has been finished, but at present the walls are hung with the portraits of famous Americans. [Museum President] A. Augustus Healy said, ‘We meet today, not indeed to celebrate the completion of the museum, or even of a considerable part of the whole, but to publicly note the fact, sufficiently momentous in itself, of the completion of the first section of our building — now, as you see, in the actual exercise of its functions as a museum — and to dedicate it to the cause of that popular education and elevating popular enjoyment which it is meant to serve.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “High tide, a 50-mile gale and rain last night and this morning played havoc with the New Jersey coast from Asbury Park to Sandy Hook, delayed ferry service in New York harbor, and in Coney Island, Bath Beach and Sheepshead Bay left a trail of flooded cellars, water-logged trolley lines, streets that took on the appearance of creeks and automobiles stalled in water up to the hubs … Within the city the section most severely hit by the storm was Coney Island, where hundreds of cellars were flooded and traffic was tied up for hours by miniature lakes. At 7 a.m., when the tide was at its highest, the ocean swept over the up-to-date Coney Island boardwalk and hours later, when the tide had receded considerably, the waves still were within 10 feet of it.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “POLO GROUNDS — The scene of the playoff drama for the championship of the National League shifts to this historic ballpark on the banks of the Harlem today with the Dodgers determined that it shall not be the last act. A Brooklyn win before an expected 50,000 house would make a third game necessary. The Weather Man has promised another fine baseball afternoon with warm and smiling skies overhead. Manager Leo Durocher’s miracle ball club has been installed a top-heavy favorite to close out the series and gain a full day’s rest before meeting the Yankees Thursday in the first game of the World Series. Manager Chuck Dressen has other ideas. The rush seats were put on sale at 9:30 this morning and the bleacher line began forming last night. All reserved seats had been sold. The Giants took the first game at Ebbets Field yesterday, 3 to 1, behind the five-hit pitching of big Jim Hearn, already scenting his first World Series prize money. Ralph Branca had the misfortune to throw a couple of home run balls that made the difference in the final score.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former N.Y. Knicks guard and two-time NBA champion Dick Barnett, who was born in 1936; film critic Rex Reed, who was born in 1938; “American Pie” singer Don McLean, who was born in 1945; “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” star Avery Brooks, who was born in 1948; fashion designer Donna Karan, who was born in 1948; photographer Annie Leibovitz, who was born in 1949; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mike Rutherford (Genesis), who was born in 1950; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sting (The Police), who was born in 1951; “Goodfellas” star Lorraine Bracco, who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; singer-songwriter Gillian Welch, who was born in 1967; talk show host Kelly Ripa, who was born in 1970; former N.Y. Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who was born in 1982; and former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks, who was born in 1989.