February 6: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 6, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “While all that is mortal of Woodrow Wilson, the great War President, is being given back to the earth in the very seat of the Nation he served so well, city voices are hushed and activities ceased for a vast memorial tribute to the dead statesman. Echoing loud from Governors Island, in the bay, cannon boomed a solemn requiem. In churches, mourning congregations knelt in prayer. The cessation of activity is general. No wheel of industry is turning, and every sound that smacks of worldly pursuit of business is stilled. The schools are empty, clerks in the aisles of the big department stores are idle; the city’s government bodies have suspended session for the day and all courts and State offices are closed. It is rare, very rare, in history when the suspension of activities is complete while the funeral of a man is in progress. But in New York City not even a trolley car is moving during the solemn hour. In Brooklyn the downtown department stores are drawing the shades over their brightly trimmed windows and the crowds inside are halted in the aisles. This procedure is being carried on in Frederick Loeser’s, Abraham & Straus and A.I. Namm & Son. In A. and S. the funeral hour was heralded by the notes of a bugle sounding taps. Of all the religious memorial services perhaps the largest is being conducted by the Rt. Rev. William T. Manning, Bishop of New York, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. More than 10,000 persons gathered today in Madison Square Garden to do honor to Woodrow Wilson at the moment when his funeral services were being conducted in Washington.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “Leaders in the world of theater, art, society, music, civic life and the screen will attend the world premiere of Walt Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’ at the Center Theater in Radio City tomorrow night. This will be the first gala opening on the new 6th Ave. Plainclothesmen will be inside the theater guarding the exhibit in the lower lounge of Walt Disney originals. ‘Pinocchio,’ Disney’s first full-length feature after ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,’ was three years in production. An approximate total of 1,200 persons worked on the film at the Disney studios and more than 500,000 drawings went into the film.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “For the first time since the war, the Dodger baseball season will get under way unofficially with a ‘welcome home’ dinner to the players at the Hotel St. George on April 14. George C. Wildermuth, president of the Dodger Knot-Hole Club, was empowered at the annual meeting of the club yesterday at the Brooklyn Baseball Club, 215 Montague St., to appoint a committee to arrange for the dinner. The Knot-Hole Club, formed seven years ago, is an organization unique in the East. It was organized at the suggestion of Larry MacPhail and provides boys with free tickets for at least three big league baseball games during the season.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (UP) — King George VI died peacefully in his sleep early today and 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth became reigning sovereign of the British Commonwealth and empire. The new Queen, who will reign over one-quarter of the world’s surface and population, was vacationing in Nairobi, Kenya, an African colony, when the death of her 56-year-old father suddenly elevated her to the throne. She departed for London at once with her husband and prince consort, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They had been scheduled to sail from Africa tomorrow for a royal tour of Ceylon, Australia and New Zealand … Death came to the King at the same estate where he was born Dec. 14, 1895. He had reigned through 15 of Britain’s most momentous years. He succeeded to the throne Dec. 11, 1936, when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated for the ‘woman I love.’ Edward became the Duke of Windsor.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Gil Hodges, the greatest right-handed home run hitter in the history of the National League, signed his 1963 contract with the New York Mets yesterday and announced he was ready to challenge for the first base job. Terms of Hodges’ second contract with the Mets, and 17th in the major leagues, were not announced, but it is believed he will get the same $35,000 the Mets paid him in 1962. Hodges played in only 54 games last season when he was hampered by a bad knee … Marv Throneberry took over when Hodges hurt his knee and this year the addition of Tim Harkness from the Los Angeles Dodgers and rookie Ed Kranepool makes the race for first base wide open, according to manager Casey Stengel … When he wasn’t playing in 1962, Hodges helped coach young Kranepool, the club’s big bonus baby who is expected to become the first baseman of the future.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Untamed Youth” star Mamie Van Doren, who was born in 1931; “M*A*S*H” star Mike Farrell, who was born in 1939; news anchor Tom Brokaw, who was born in 1940; “Tiger” singer Fabian Forte, who was born in 1943; “L.A. Law” star Michael Tucker, who was born in 1945; Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who was born in 1950; “The Five Heartbeats” director Robert Townsend, who was born in 1957; “Millennium” star Megan Gallagher, who was born in 1960; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Axl Rose, who was born in 1962; “Together Forever” singer Rick Astley, who was born in 1966; former N.Y. Yankees pitcher Bob Wickman, who was born in 1969; “Dirt” star Josh Stewart, who was born in 1977; “Iron Fist” star Alice Eve, who was born in 1982; former Brooklyn Nets forward Kris Humphries, who was born in 1985; former N.Y. Jets wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who was born in 1990; and singer and actress Tinashe, who was born in 1993.