January 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 9, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1874, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Rev. Henry Boehm, the venerable Methodist preacher, now in his ninety-ninth year, recently attended the Centennial Anniversary of the Grove Church, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, where he officiated as Presiding Elder in 1813 and 1814, and as Pastor in 1824 and 1825.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1887, the Eagle reported, “‘There are over 18,000 bands in this country,’ said Mr. John Philip Sousa, the leader of the Marine Band, last night, ‘and they are about evenly distributed, with New York and Pennsylvania in the lead. In the Marine Band stationed in Washington there are thirty-eight men, and the salaries paid are $38 per month for first class talent, $24 for second class and $21 for third class. The band is a good one, but it is impossible to keep first rate men at the rate of wages paid by the Government. As soon as our musicians become proficient they leave us, as is partly shown by the fact that in six years there have been forty changes in a band of thirty-eight men. The demand for skilled musicians is very large. Where there was one company playing opera thirty years ago there are fifty today, and where there was opportunity for one musician to make a living then there are opportunities for hundreds now. Bands at watering places were unknown in those days and the chances of profitable employment for musicians were comparatively scarce. Today even some of our factories have them for the edification of employees, and perhaps as an advertisement also. The consequence is that it is impossible to get good talent without paying good wages. The salaries of the members of our band are miserable. An ordinary musician could make as much in a week as we pay in a month, and this is striking when it is considered that the Marine is the national band and is brought into competition with the best in the country on all big occasions.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1907, the Eagle reported, “Discussion as to the nature of radium still continues, some holding to the idea that it is a compound and not a chemical element. Sir George Lodge remarks that there is no necessity for settling the question offhand, that it is a matter of hypothesis; and Frederick Soddy, writing in Nature, says: ‘If as a result of the recent controversy it has been made clear that atomic disintegration is based on experimental facts, which even its most hostile opponents are unable to shake or explain in any other way, the best ends of science will have been served.’”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “Noiseless explosions of atoms are detected, the blast amplified several hundred thousand times, and the effect announced like an artillery barrage through a loudspeaker, in a piece of apparatus placed on demonstration this week at the Museum of Peaceful Arts at 24 W. 40th St., Manhattan. Another piece of apparatus of very simple character makes visible the explosion of atoms so that the beholder can, without the least difficulty, see the effect of the fragments of atoms as they fly through the air. Dr. C.W. Hewlitt, of the Research Laboratories of the General Electric Company, developed the device by means of which the noise of the exploding atoms can be heard. It was demonstrated yesterday by Dr. F.C. Brown, director of the museum.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “The Plymouth Theater on Jan. 30 will receive ‘Gertie,’ Herman Shumlin’s production of the Enid Bagnold play, which stars Glynis Johns and Albert Dekker, and features Polly Rowles, Alan Napier, Patricia Wheel and Robert Duke. The play opens a three-day New Haven stand tomorrow and a two-week Boston tryout on Monday.” (Editor’s note: Glynis Johns was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1960 film “The Sundowners.” She was the oldest living Oscar nominee in an acting category from July 26, 2020 until her death at age 100 on Jan. 4, 2024. She also played Winifred Banks in the 1964 Disney film “Mary Poppins.”)

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (UP) — President Truman’s eighth and last Federal budget was ready for submission to Congress today. Administration sources disclosed more than a week ago that the budget, for the 1954 fiscal year beginning next July 1, would call for spending nearly $79,000,000,000. They said it would estimate government revenues at about $69,000,000,000, with a resulting deficit of about $10,000,000,000. The budget, a bulky document which customarily weighs about five pounds, was accompanied by a Presidential message to be read to the House and Senate by clerks. Republican leaders of the new Congress served notice in advance that they expected to find plenty of ‘fat’ in the Truman budget. Some were hopeful that Federal spending for fiscal 1954 could be slashed to $70,000,000,000. G.O.P. Congressional leaders are committed to balancing the budget before cutting taxes, but many would like to do both this year. They are looking to President-elect Eisenhower to help find places to cut spending after he takes office Jan. 20. Joseph M. Dodge, Eisenhower’s budget director, has already begun conferences with members of the incoming Republican cabinet on changes in the Truman budget. Dodge said Eisenhower will send a series of messages to Congress, beginning probably in early April, proposing revisions in the budget prepared by the outgoing Democratic Administration.”

***

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Baez, who was born in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Page, who was born in 1944; “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” singer Crystal Gayle, who was born in 1951; “The Other Boleyn Girl” author Philippa Gregory, who was born in 1954; Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons, who was born in 1955; “The Crown” star Imelda Staunton, who was born in 1956; former NBA point guard Muggsy Bogues, who was born in 1965; “Nip/Tuck” star Joely Richardson, who was born in 1965; singer-songwriter Dave Matthews, who was born in 1967; “Chasing Amy” star Joey Lauren Adams, who was born in 1968; Catherine, Princess of Wales, who was born in 1982; and “Love Hard” star Nina Dobrev, who was born in 1989.