November 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 5, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The mysterious fogless situation at Floyd Bennett Field, which leaves it free when all other metropolitan airports are closed in, was illustrated again last night. At 8:15 an army observation plane, bound from Bolling Field, Washington, for Mitchel Field, with Lt. Charles Winstead at the controls, found the Brooklyn airport accessible. Not only was it open, when the others were blanketed, but Floyd Bennett Field had from two to three miles visibility. At 9:40 a big Douglas airliner, belonging to the Transcontinental Western Airways, so-called Lindbergh line, was unable to land its six passengers from Chicago at Newark, as scheduled, so F. Bohnett, the pilot, set it down at Floyd Bennett. Transcontinental Western Airways is still negotiating for the transfer of its Eastern air base from Newark to Brooklyn, in order to take advantage of better flying conditions here. In four years Floyd Bennett Airport has been closed on only two days by fog. The record is so unusual that even airport officials are not sure of the explanation. One of them suggested today the fact that the sea surrounds the airport on three sides, with the tide tending to ‘take the fog away,’ might be the explanation.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “CHICAGO (AP) — Ordinances were drafted today to make central standard time official again in Chicago after voters, by a 2 to 1 margin, indicated permanent Eastern standard or year-round daylight saving time was not popular.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Construction of the new municipal airport at Idlewild faces further delay, as a result of jurisdictional disputes, according to Mayor LaGuardia. The inter-union conflict over the right to lay drainage pipes, claimed by both construction men and plumbers, had been amicably settled in favor of the plumbers, the Mayor said yesterday over WNYC, when a new factor was injected into the situation. This was the demand that the city employ a plumbing contractor to do the work, despite the fact that the general construction contractor awarded the contract had agreed to employ plumbers. ‘There is nothing I can do about it,’ he said, ‘although the city is spending millions and millions of dollars. There is nothing the contractor can do. These matters just must be ironed out.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “With forecasts pointing to a Republican sweep, including Gov. Thomas E. Dewey’s reelection by an overwhelming plurality which would again make him a strong contender for the 1948 G.O.P. Presidential nomination, Brooklyn voters went to the polls today in a strong early turnout in the first state-wide election since World War II. New Deal-controlled voting areas in the more densely populated sections of Brooklyn led the pace in the early balloting. With Brooklyn slated to cast an estimated total of 855,000 votes, or more than 15 percent of the 5,000,000 believed likely to be recorded in the States as a whole, polling places in the crowded Brownsville and Kings Highway areas reported between 15 and 20 percent of their registered voters being recorded on the voting machines during the first two hours of balloting. Polls were to remain open from 6 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock this evening.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “BOSTON (U.P.) — President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower’s pre-convention campaign manager lost his Senate seat and the Democratic National Convention’s keynoter apparently was unseated as Massachusetts governor but Eisenhower himself swept the boards in New England. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was beaten soundly by youthful John F. Kennedy, World War II hero son of Joseph P. Kennedy, former Ambassador to Britain. Kennedy’s plurality was about 80,000. Gov. Paul A. Dever, seeking a third term, apparently was defeated by Republican Representative Christian A. Harter, onetime aide to President Herbert Hoover. Herter’s margin was about 10,000.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA — The future of the Athletics, sold to realtor Arnold Johnson in a $3,350,000 deal, was still in doubt today, pending Monday’s American League meeting in New York to approve the sale and Johnson’s plan to transfer the club to Kansas City. The club owners originally approved of Johnson and the proposed shift on Oct. 12 in Chicago. But developments since then apparently have made it necessary to explore the American League constitution for a precise decision.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “A Shot in the Dark” star Elke Sommer, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Art Garfunkel, who was born in 1941; former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, who was born in 1945; Herman’s Hermits founder Peter Noone, who was born in 1947; Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was born in 1952; “To Die For” author Joyce Maynard, who was born in 1953; “Terminator 2” star Robert Patrick, who was born in 1959; Songwriters Hall of Famer Bryan Adams, who was born in 1959; Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, who was born in 1960; Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal, who was born in 1963; “X-Men” star Famke Janssen, who was born in 1964; “Scrubs” star Judy Reyes, who was born in 1967; Oscar-winning actor Sam Rockwell, who was born in 1968; former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, who was born in 1973; and former N.Y. Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who was born in 1992.