October 27: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 27, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1879, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “A magnificent group of Autumn blossoms, set off with the flaming glory of foliage touched with the October frosts, stood at one side of Mr. Beecher’s pulpit and reminded of the cold atmosphere that prevailed outside. The church was filled as usual in spite of the sudden chill in the air. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mrs. Perkins, Mr. Beecher’s oldest sister, and several other members of the family were present. The services opened with the anthem ‘God is wisdom, God is love.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1904, the Eagle reported, “The New York Subway was formally opened at 2:34 o’clock this afternoon, when Mayor George B. McClellan, grasping a silver controller handle, started the first train north from the City Hall to Harlem. Before this culminating event there were exercises in the Aldermanic Chamber of the old City Hall, which were both simple and impressive. After the Mayor had first sent the electric current into the starting motor of the official train there was a bedlam of noise from one end of Manhattan to another. Guns were fired, signaling that the Subway was really in public operation, while factory whistles, church bells and the voices of the harbor craft for a long time took up the message of the guns. In the meantime the trial train, which was divided for the comfort of the inaugurating party, was slipping out over the curve from the City Hall station and into the semi-darkness of the Subway. The party found its course uptown heralded by saluting employes and folk who had been privileged to stand upon the station platforms as the historic train whizzed by. Beyond them, at the open kiosk entrances of the road, pressed many more men and women unprivileged and uninvited, who cheered not the less lustily because of that fact. The course of the special train uptown was made a matter of continued jollification.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1907, the Eagle reported, “A [Charles Evans] Hughes presidential boom was launched yesterday afternoon at the laying of the cornerstone of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park. And it can be said without exaggeration that the thousand or more people who were clustered in front of the grandstand and heard the mention of the governor’s name for higher honors by Stephen V. White, the chairman, unanimously approved of the suggestion. The applause which followed became spontaneous and the scene in front presented a sea of clapping hands. The governor accepted the compliment modestly and made no allusion to it when he later addressed the people. For the ceremonies a more ideal day, from a weather standpoint, could not have been obtained. The open air was delightful and the bluff in the park where the monument is to rest presented a beautiful scene. On the plaza in front of the park a detachment from the Third Battery was stationed. A national salute of twenty-one guns broke the stillness when the signal was given that the stone was in place. Governor Hughes, when he reached the park, also received a salute of twenty-one guns from the battery.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “A nine-man team beat a two-man team for the baseball championship of the world. Such was the answer when the Philadelphia Athletics, champions of the American League, beat the New York Giants yesterday in Philadelphia by 13 to 2 and made it four out of six games, terminating the series. The hopes of the Giants were based upon [Christy] Mathewson and [Rube] Marquard. Both of those hopes failed. It was practically agreed in all the preliminary talk that if Mathewson and Marquard could not come across then the Athletics would win. That was the position taken by the present writer and nearly all the others except a few strong personal friends of the National League whose wishes were father to the thought. Mathewson won his first game and lost his second and third. Marquard was a complete failure, and the better team won the series.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1912, the Eagle reported, “Old Halloween is here again — old Halloween when all the goblins and fairies are allowed to rove as they will about the earth, playing all kinds of pranks upon us poor mortals — old Halloween when a great many boys see fit to imitate those goblins and to make matters very unpleasant for older people who perhaps have even forgotten what day it is. The youngsters don’t let anyone be unaware of that for very long, though, and it would take a very absent-minded man indeed who could pass through this city then and not know that it is Halloween. But the boys aren’t the only ones who have a good time on Halloween. There are the Halloween parties which girls certainly enjoy fully as much as do the boys when all the quaint old games are played and all the long-forgotten rhymes and riddles are remembered.”

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Kelly Osbourne
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” star John Cleese, who was born in 1939; “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood, who was born in 1942; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Garry Tallent (E Street Band), who was born in 1949; author and public speaker Fran Lebowitz, who was born in 1950; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer K.K. Downing (Judas Priest), who was born in 1951; “Body and Soul” star Jayne Kennedy, who was born in 1951; Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni, who was born in 1952; “Star Trek: Voyager” star Robert Picardo, who was born in 1953; World Golf Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan, who was born in 1956; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), who was born in 1958; actress and model Marla Maples, who was born in 1963; TV personality Kelly Osbourne, who was born in 1984; and Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, who was born in 1997.