November 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 9, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (British Wireless Service) — A German wireless message received in London this afternoon states — ‘The German Imperial Chancellor, Prince Max of Eden, has issued the following decree: The Kaiser and King has decided to renounce the throne. The Imperial Chancellor will remain in office until the questions connected with the abdication of the Kaiser, the renouncing by the Crown Prince of the throne of the German Empire and of Prussia and the setting up of a regency have been settled.” The Eagle also reported, “PARIS — It is probable that the German reply to the Allied terms for an armistice will be brought back by the same courier that took them to German headquarters at Spa yesterday. Under the circumstances, it is believed the reply cannot be delivered before the middle of this afternoon at the very earliest. The German government, however, may use the wireless, in which case the plenipotentiaries at Marshal Foch’s headquarters will have only to ratify the decision thus conveyed to them.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1921, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Her progress up the Potomac River marked by periodic rendition of the salute usually accorded the Chief Executive (21 guns), the cruiser Olympic brought to his homeland today the Unknown Soldier — representative of thousands of American soldiers dead overseas. The program designed to express the nation’s honor for its war dead began when the Olympic turned this morning into the wide reaches of the Potomac. The battleship North Dakota, lying at anchor off the Piney Point entrance to the river, dipped her ensign in salutation as her guns tolled welcome. As the cruiser proceeded toward her berth at the Washington Navy Yard, Fort Washington and Washington Barracks signaled her passage, each with the presidential salute of 21 guns. The Olympic was scheduled to dock about 4 o’clock this afternoon. The casket bearing the remains of the man who fell, unknown but undaunted, will be given at the dock to the hero escort which will accompany it to Arlington Friday … The historic catafalque on which the body of the Unknown Soldier will lie in state was installed today in the Capitol.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (U.P.) — The Official News Agency reported today that anti-Jewish demonstrators burned a synagogue at Hersfeld as key Nazi publications threatened merciless reprisals against Jews for the shooting of a German Embassy secretary at Paris by a 17-year-old Jew. Further outbreaks were feared as word was received from Paris that Ernst vom Rath, victim of the assassin, had died today. Vom Rath was shot by Herschel Fripel Grynszpan, who said he wanted to avenge the expulsion of Polish Jews from Germany. An article in the national organ of the Storm Troop organization, Das Schwarze Korps, was interpreted in some quarters as implying that foreign Jews in Germany might be expelled and German Jews unable to make a living in their own country interned in labor camps or dealt with in some similar drastic manner.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “CAMBRIDGE, MASS., NOV. 8 (U.P.) — Harvard University astronomers today began construction of a radio to pick up ‘broadcasts’ from the stars. Provost Paul H. Buck announced that work had started on the device, a radio telescope, at the Agassiz station of the Harvard observatory. The sun, stars and other celestial bodies, Buck said, emit not only light but also radiations not in the visible spectrum. Radio telescopes can pick up these invisible radiations, much as an ordinary radio picks up waves transmitted from a broadcasting station. The radio telescope will study invisible hydrogen clouds floating in our galaxy. Their radiation was discovered in 1951 by Prof. Edward Purcell of the Harvard University physics department, who won a Nobel Prize this week, and Dr. Harold I. Ewen. The ultimate aim of the ‘listening-in’ research will be to determine, by tracing the hydrogen clouds, the structure of the universe.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Kansas City, a rip-roaring frontier town in covered wagon days, became the last Western outpost of major league baseball today — perhaps for years to come. The movement of the Philadelphia Athletics franchise to Kansas City yesterday was expected to bring stabilization to the major leagues. It was the third switch of a franchise within two years after more than a half century in which the baseball map was undisturbed. But when Kansas City took over the distressed franchise of the Athletics it also became apparent that any further moves for the time being were out of the question. In the first place, no other city seeking major league recognition, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Toronto or Montreal, is ready with the proper facilities. In the second place, there is now no major league team which has undergone such financial setbacks as the Boston Braves of two years ago, the St. Louis Browns of last year, or the Philadelphia Athletics of the just-completed 1954 season. Thus, the other ambitious cities will have to wait.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — The Senate sidetracked everything else today to pay tribute to three members who have died in the past five months — Senators Lester C. Hunt (D.-Wyo.), Hugh Butler (R.-Neb.) and Pat McCarran (D.-Nev.). The Upper Chamber, which met yesterday to consider censure of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R.-Wis.), planned no business today except the official memorial service.”

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Vanessa Lachey
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog, who was born in 1931; “CSI” star Robert David Hall, who was born in 1947; Oscar-winning director Bille August, who was born in 1948; Blue Oyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard, who was born in 1948; “The Incredible Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno, who was born in Brooklyn in 1951; L7 drummer Demetra Plakas, who was born in 1960; “Star Trek: Voyager” star Robert Duncan McNeill, who was born in 1964; rapper and actress Pepa, who was born in 1966; U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Guerin, who was born in 1970; “Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane, who was born in 1972; actor and singer Nick Lachey, who was born in 1973; TV personality Vanessa Lachey, who was born in 1980; “Huge” star Nikki Blonsky, who was born in 1988; and “Crazy, Stupid, Love” star Lio Tipton, who was born in 1988.