January 23: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 23, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1861, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Tomorrow, at one o’clock, the admirers of outdoor sports will be afforded a decidedly novel treat — nothing short of a base ball match played upon skates at the 5th Avenue skating pond. We are informed that the Atlantic and Charter Oak Base Ball Clubs will enter into a friendly but slippery contest for superiority, the players to be on skates, taking all the risks of such breakneck attachments. The proposition has at least the merit of novelty, if no other, and of course will draw a crowd, for there is an unaccountable desire felt by many to see men do daredevil feats.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1927, the Eagle reported, “Fine old spacious private residences of the boro that opened wide the eyes of visitors a generation ago, and reflected the prosperity and prominence of their owners, are disappearing one by one. They are gradually being consigned to wreckers, who destroy their beautifully carved stone facades and tear away the ornamental plaster and hand-carved wood trimming in the urgent rush to clear the plot as quickly as possible to make way for a large apartment house or a business structure. These old landmarks associated with the past history of Brooklyn are yielding to ‘new ways of a new day.’ They served their purpose admirably in their time, but the march of progress demands that they step aside and give place to modern types of buildings whose income will be commensurate with the increased value of the land upon which they long stood.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “NEWTOWNVILLE, MASS. (AP) — Laddie Boy, the magnificent Airedale which, as the ‘first dog of the land,’ once roamed at will about the White House grounds, is dead at the home here of Harry L. Barker, secret service man, to whose care he was entrusted seven years ago at the death of his master, President Harding. Laddie Boy was a half-brother to President Coolidge’s dog, Laddie Buck. One of Laddie Boy’s unusual traits was his fondness for coffee, with sugar and cream, a taste acquired at the White House and indulged thereafter at the Barker home.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “Managers of the Roosevelt-for-President campaign today declared they have discovered the generalissimo of the [Al] Smith-for-President forces. They pointed the finger of accusation to John J. Curtin, the Brooklyn lawyer who has been a close friend of the man under the brown derby since Smith first ran for Governor in 1918. They hold him responsible for the forthcoming Roosevelt-Smith tussle in the New Hampshire primaries, which will be accepted generally as the first reliable indication of the relative strength of these two contenders for the Presidency. The Roosevelt people contend that Curtin managed the Smith boom in New Hampshire, where the former Governor’s friends prepared a full ticket of candidates for delegates. The New Hampshire primary, the first in the country, will be held March 8. Since the consent of the candidate is not required, Smith will be able to enter the lists and still keep silent about the Presidency. Curtin, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed and middle aged, ran the [Jimmy] Walker campaign in Brooklyn in 1925 when the present Mayor opposed John F. Hylan in the primaries. Curtin got into that row by reason of his close association with Smith. Smith was Walker’s principal sponsor and ablest campaigner.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “WORCESTER, MASS. (U.P.) — Fifty-six years ago a clerk at the Worcester Natural History Society gave a boy a dollar to shovel snow off the sidewalk. The youth did half the job, then quit for ‘lunch’ and never returned. Yesterday the ‘boy’ repented. He didn’t return and finish the job. He sent the society a check for $10 to repay the money with interest.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1955, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — President Eisenhower will ask Congress at noon Monday to approve a definite U.S. defense line in the Far East in what may set the stage for a war-or-peace showdown with Red China. A White House announcement today said Mr. Eisenhower will submit a special message that ‘will clarify the purposes and application of United States policy in relation to the security of Formosa [Taiwan] and ask for the support thereof by the Congress.’ Those sparse words, high Administration officials said, represented a hardening of American policy toward the Communists in the face of intensified encroachment on Nationalist China’s island territories. Though doubts were voiced that Mr. Eisenhower will seek to establish publicly in his message a specific defense line, several congressmen reported a ‘definite’ line would be drawn. Overstepping of that line in the embattled Formosan area by Red China would invite retaliation by U.S. sea and air forces in support of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. One White House source said, however, that ‘We are not going to draw any blueprints for the Communists.’”

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Mariska Hargitay
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include actress and singer Chita Rivera, who was born in 1933; “MacGyver” star Richard Dean Anderson, who was born in 1950; pilot and safety expert Chesley Sullenberger, who was born in 1951; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), who was born in 1953; “NYPD Blue” star Gail O’Grady, who was born in 1963; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay, who was born in 1964; Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan, who was born in 1969; Pro Football Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Jets center Kevin Mawae, who was born in 1971; “Saved by the Bell” star Tiffani Thiessen, who was born in 1974; “Dexter: New Blood” star Julia Jones, who was born in 1981; sprinter and Olympic gold medalist Andrew Rock, who was born in 1982; model and actress Doutzen Kroes, who was born in 1985; and soccer player Steve Birnbaum, who was born in 1991.