October 29: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 29, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1845, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The earthquake of Sunday last appears to have been felt in various places besides New York and Long Island. A gentleman from Norwalk, Ct. informs us that the shock was severe in that place — throwing the milk-pans from their shelves, and rattling the dishes and effects generally ‘like all possessed.’ The people were alarmed, and rushed into the streets, and every which way. Our informant himself was among the refugees, as he happened to be near his vessel, which was lying at the wharf, and preferred, in the language of the good ballad, that ‘Death, whenever it comes to me, shall come on the deep and bounding sea.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1869, the Eagle reported, “There is a haunted house in Harwich, from which a tenant recently removed, forfeiting a quarter’s rent rather than remain.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1909, the Eagle reported, “The fight for the Fourth avenue subway has been won. By a unanimous vote the Board of Estimate at the meeting this morning authorized the appropriation of $2,850,000 to begin the construction work immediately. Then the board went farther, at the instigation of Controller [Herman] Metz, who has been instrumental in holding up the project for a year, and passed a resolution requesting the Public Service Commission to apply to the Board of Estimate for $13,036,381, which is the balance of the estimated cost of the entire six sections of the subway from the Manhattan Bridge to Forty-third street. ‘As long as we started the work, we should see that it won’t be held up by any future board,’ said Mr. Metz. ‘This board here should authorize the balance of the money covering the entire cost of construction so the work won’t be stopped after it has once been started.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY, OCT. 28 (A.P.) — Legalized beer has brought with it an increase in the number of arrests for drunkenness of both men and women, according to a report issued today by Frank A. Leonard, statistician for the State Department of Correction. Since April 7 last, when beer was legalized, the average number of arrests each month for drunkenness was 3,859 as compared with 3,515 for 1932. In the case of women, the average each month has been 223 as compared with 183 for each of the first three months of the year. Arrests for driving while intoxicated averaged 242 a month after April 7, and 239 a month last year. A yearly comparison for arrests shows 42,176 in 1932, as compared with 23,155 from April 1 to Oct. 1 this year; 2,869 arrests in 1932 for driving while intoxicated as against 1,451 during the first six months of legalized beer.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “Preceding his New York opening next Friday in ‘Plumes in the Dust,’ Henry Hull is showing that Sophie Treadwell play in Baltimore, where, appropriately enough, the good folks of the Maryland city are celebrating Edgar Allan Poe week. The play is about Poe, and Hull is playing the poet.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Police this morning arrested five strikers at LaGuardia Field on charges of disorderly conduct and unauthorized picketing. Police three days ago limited the number of pickets permitted at the field. Those arrested, members of Local 1026 of the United Automobile Workers, CIO, included four men and a girl. They were booked at the Astoria precinct. It was charged that 18 pickets were stationed before the American Airlines hangar, 12 over the maximum allowed by the police order. The strike of American Airlines workers, the result of a four-way jurisdictional dispute between the U.A.W., the Transport Workers Union, the International Association of Machinists and an independent union, has been marked now by a total of 10 arrests since its start last Tuesday. Sixty police, including several on horseback, under the command of Capt. Edward Whiteman of the Astoria precinct, are at the field. No disturbance was reported when the arrests were made. In the past few days, booing, jeering and catcalling accompanied pickets as the rival unions sought jurisdiction over the workers.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1962, the Eagle reported, “MIAMI (UPI) — Cuban Premier Fidel Castro fired off a demand that the United States get out of its Guantanamo Naval Base as one of five conditions he posed for settling the [missile] crisis. He also said ‘violations’ of Cuban air and naval space must stop. [President] Kennedy’s guarantees to the Soviet premier on Cuba ‘will have no meaning,’ Castro said, unless the United States bows to Cuba’s specific demands as well. In Moscow, diplomatic sources said Castro may have been caught off guard when the Russians agreed to withdraw their missile bases.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Denny Laine (The Moody Blues), who was born in 1944; singer and actress Melba Moore, who was born in 1945; “Stakeout” star Richard Dreyfuss, who was born in Brooklyn in 1947; “Charlie’s Angels” star Kate Jackson, who was born in 1948; New York Islanders legend Denis Potvin, who was born in 1953; “The Simpsons” star Dan Castellaneta, who was born in 1957; Jackson 5 member Randy Jackson, who was born in 1961; “Heathers” star Winona Ryder, who was born in 1971; “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross, who was born in 1972; “Bring It On” star Gabrielle Union, who was born in 1972; “Roswell” star Brendan Fehr, who was born in 1977; and former N.Y. Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who was born in 1988.