February 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 5, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1892, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “SARATOGA, N.Y. — The Democrats of this assembly district will hold their convention to choose delegates to the state convention at Holloran’s Hotel, in Hadley, on Saturday, the 20th inst. The Hadley Democrats have elected their delegates to that convention as follows: A.D. Williams, Lee Ackley and James Holloran. The caucus took a vote on presidential preference, and all present, with one exception, named [Grover] Cleveland. The Hadley delegation is solid for the ex-President.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “One of the most important announcements of the winter was made yesterday by Mr. and Mrs. Payne Whitney of 975 5th ave. when they made known the engagement of their daughter, Miss Joan Whitney, to Charles Shipman Payson of Portland, Me. Miss Whitney, who made her debut at a ball at the Plaza Hotel, Dec. 20, 1921, is just 21, her birthday having been celebrated by a dinner and dance given last Saturday by her parents at their Fifth Avenue home. She is the granddaughter of the late William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy in President Cleveland’s Cabinet. On the side of her mother, who was Miss Helen Hay, Miss Whitney is a granddaughter of the late John Hay, statesman, author and journalist, who was American Ambassador to the Court of St. James. She is one of the most popular young women of New York society, and has been an exhibitor at most of the notable horse and dog shows. Mr. Payson is a son of Herbert Payson of H.M. Payson & Co., investment bankers of Portland, Me. He was at the Plattsburg Training Camp in 1917, entered Yale College that autumn and became a member of the Yale Naval Reserve. He rowed in the winning university crews of 1919 and 1921, and was graduated in 1921, afterward entering Harvard Law School, this being the last year of his course. No date has been set for the wedding.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “With a record for the current season of winning 14 games in 17 starts, the basketball team representing the Brooklyn Athletic Club, one of the newest younger clubs, aspires to the present popularity of the Crescent-Hamilton Club and will take on a pair of opponents over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon the Brooklyn A.C. quintet will travel to the Downtown A.C. gym to tackle the basketeers John Heisman, former University of Pennsylvania football coach, has lined up to represent the Downtown Athletic Club on West St., New York City. To date the Downtown clubmen have lost but two games in 12, but the Brooklyn A.C. five hopes to make the New Yorkers their fourth straight victim in their latest string of triumphs.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — President Roosevelt was boomed for a third term today as the Democratic National Committee met to pick a convention city — it looks like Philadelphia — and to postpone a decision on the convention date … Democratic State Chairman E.H. Birmingham of Iowa said: ‘There is no second choice in Iowa — we are all for a third term.’ Former Gov. Olin D. Johnston of South Carolina said: ‘You can’t change horses in midstream. We will draft Roosevelt if necessary.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1960, the Brooklyn Record reported, “Proponents for a $250,000,000 World Trade Center in the Wall Street financial district were invited to survey Brooklyn Heights as a more suitable site by Norman H. Free, general manager of the Hotel St. George and chairman of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Hotels Committee. The center would be designed, according to sponsors, to encourage the flow of commerce through the Port of New York and make it easier for American and foreign traders to meet and display their wares. ‘Brooklyn Heights already has the basic requirements for such a world trade center with hotel accommodations of 4,000 rooms and ample ballrooms for displays,’ pointed out Mr. Free in a letter to David Rockefeller, Manhattan’s proponent of the plan. ‘Right at our doorstep are the new Port of New York Authority piers which would bring the products here from all parts of the world. There are ample sites for any additional buildings which may be necessary,’ he added. It was also pointed out that further skyscraper development of lower Manhattan would add traffic and parking problems which already are baffling the authorities.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [Robert] Wagner yesterday signed a local law to make Shea Stadium a reality. The city’s new municipal stadium in Flushing, Queens, has been named in honor of William Shea, the man most responsible for bringing a new National League baseball team to New York. In signing the law, Wagner said the name of the new stadium was a ‘token of the city’s gratitude’ for Shea’s efforts. The 50,000-seat stadium is expected to be ready for the New York Mets sometime in the forthcoming season.”

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Jennifer Jason Leigh
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Falcon Crest” star David Selby, who was born in 1941; Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, who was born in 1942; “Heat” director Michael Mann, who was born in 1943; Blood, Sweat & Tears founder Al Kooper, who was born in Brooklyn in 1944; “Georgy Girl” star Charlotte Rampling, who was born in 1946; “A Mighty Wind” director Christopher Guest, who was born in 1948; “Beaches” star Barbara Hershey, who was born in 1948; former N.Y. Yankees catcher Mike Heath, who was born in 1955; former “Saturday Night Live” star Tim Meadows, who was born in 1961; “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” star Jennifer Jason Leigh, who was born in 1962; “John Adams” star Laura Linney, who was born in 1964; former “Saturday Night Live” star Chris Parnell, who was born in 1967; Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar, who was born in 1968; and “Glee” star Darren Criss, who was born in 1987.

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

Quotable:

“My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.”

— Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who was born on this day in 1934