January 20: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 20, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “It is a pretty safe wager that nine out of every ten persons who hear or read about instances of shoplifting in the stores of this city take it for granted that the offenders, when caught, are summarily dealt with. They figure that shoplifting, like other phases of thieving, is a violation of the law. So it is. But because it is so much harder to prove a case of shoplifting than plain theft, and also because the offender so frequently puts in a plea of kleptomania, merchants declare that it is difficult to obtain convictions. So shoplifting has gone merrily on, the professionals plying a profitable trade with the aid of ‘fences’ and the amateurs escaping in the guise of kleptomaniacs. This winter, however, department stores and specialty shops in Greater New York decided to make a united effort to diminish their losses through shoplifting, and to that end they incorporated the Stores Mutual Protective Association. Then they sought the co-operation of the Police Commissioner, the magistrates and the prosecuting attorneys of Kings and New York counties. In a letter to these officials, the secretary of the association, after stating the objects for which it was formed, added: ‘The loss to the stores has been estimated to be substantial and is believed to be largely due to lack of co-ordination in the detection of shoplifting, in the prosecution of shoplifters, to the lack of thorough investigation and to the inability, because of co-operative effort, to disclose and prosecute the receivers of stolen goods to whom the professional shoplifters are able to sell the merchandise they steal. It is believed by the members of this organization, all of whom are among the larger taxpayers of the Greater City, that this tremendous loss can be in a large degree eliminated if the authorities of the city will give them assistance.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, an Eagle editorial said, “For the second time since radio instruments came into popular use in the United States, a total eclipse of the sun is to take place next Saturday, and the National Association of Broadcasters proposes to take advantage of this phenomenon in an effort to find out why broadcasting works better in darkness than in the light. It is one of the curiosities of the radio that the range of any broadcasting or other radio station is about one-tenth in daytime what it is at night. What the professional broadcasters will attempt to determine on the morning of January 24 is whether the sun’s rays are the cause of the characteristic weakness of signals in the daytime. And to do this they propose setting up at Escanaba, Mich., the radiocasting station WJAZ, from which broadcasting will be done from 4 a.m. until 10 a.m. As the eclipse at Escanaba begins at 8:02 a.m. and lasts one minute and fifty-seven seconds, this will give the radio experts there plenty of time before and after the eclipse to record its effects on the instrument. Noting the behavior of animals during an eclipse is a recognized feature of the observations made by scientists. But this is the first time an eclipse has been studied to note its effect on the radio. The air gets into eclipse observation on next Saturday morning through another angle, this being the use of the Navy’s airship Los Angeles. From the dirigible they are not only to take astronomical photographs but also moving pictures of the eclipse, while a member of the scientific party from the Naval Observatory at Washington on board the Los Angeles will broadcast a running description of the proceedings from the airship’s cabin. Between photographs taken from a height of 6,000 feet and radio observation by professional and amateur observers the eclipse of January 24 is likely to make astronomical history if the clouds will only be good and take a morning off.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, Eagle columnist Fletcher G. Snapp said, “Bearing the major part of the estimated $1,000,000 daily business loss in New York City due to traffic congestion, Brooklyn is faced with the greatest industrial crisis in its history. Almost ‘bottled up’ by its lack of adequate vehicular links with the rest of the world, the boro is fighting for relief that will avert the two calamities now facing it — virtual isolation, with its consequent suffocation of business, and a wholesale emigration of its industries to more favored localities. When that relief will come — and how — are the vital questions. Mountains of statistics and recommendations have been, or are being, prepared by municipal and private agencies not only for remedying traffic congestion in this borough but in the city as a whole.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was born in 1930; “Doctor Who” star Tom Baker, who was born in 1934; Basketball Hall of Famer Bailey Howell, who was born in 1937; Oscar-winning filmmaker David Lynch, who was born in 1946; “Murder One” star Daniel Benzali, who was born in 1946; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul Stanley (Kiss), who was born in 1952; TV host Bill Maher, who was born in 1956; “Falcon Crest” star Lorenzo Lamas, who was born in 1958; “Desperate Housewives” star James Denton, who was born in 1963; “The Office” star Rainn Wilson, who was born in 1966; political strategist Kellyanne Conway, who was born in 1967; “Clueless” star Stacey Dash, who was born in 1967; “Jericho” star Skeet Ulrich, who was born in 1970; musician and DJ Questlove, who was born in 1971; former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who was born in 1972; and “American Horror Story” star Evan Peters, who was born in 1987.