February 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 8, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There will be a total eclipse of the sun in 2001. But you needn’t get out your smoked glasses, for it will be visible only in Central Africa.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) — Charles Curtis, former Vice President and long-time Senator from Kansas, died today at 76. A heart attack was the cause … Curtis was elected to the House in 1892 and served continuously until 1907. In that year he was appointed to the Senate and with the exception of a period from 1912 to 1914 continued in the Senate until his election as Vice President in 1928. Since expiration of his term as Vice President, Curtis has practiced law in the Capital. He made his home with his sister, Mrs. Edward Everett Gann. He was a widower. Only recently, Mr. Curtis was planning to resume his political activities in the interest of Governor Alfred M. Landon of Kansas for the Republican Presidential nomination … After years in the Senate he was elected to the Vice Presidency on the ticket with Herbert Hoover in 1928 … Charles Curtis was the first man of Indian ancestry to occupy the vice presidency of the United States. In his youth he wore the blanket of his Indian forebears on the Kaw reservation in Kansas, and at the age of 47, by his own efforts he attained the toga of a United States Senator. Then with the inauguration of the Hoover Administration in 1929 he presided over the Senate, where he had served 20 years and in which he had risen to be Republican leader.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Electronic radiations from two huge sunspots snarled up radio transmission today to such an extent that several transatlantic flights to and from LaGuardia Field have been postponed. Robert Coles of Glen Cove, associate curator at the Hayden Planetarium, described the ‘spots’ as being about 60,000 miles in diameter. ‘The spots are storm areas in the sun’s atmosphere. They appear dark only in comparison to the incandescent mass of the sun. The spots are probably brighter than any light produced on earth except the atom bomb,’ he said. Non-scientific observers can see the spots by peering at the sun through heavily overexposed negatives, he said. Last night the sunspots were responsible for a brilliant aurora borealis, brighter than any which had been seen in New York City in the last four years. Sunspots also interfered with radio and telephone communications and some Northwestern telephone lines were out of use for a while yesterday. Sunspot activity should decline ‘within the next few days,’ Mr. Coles explained. The Weather Bureau, which doesn’t pay much attention to sunspots, predicted ‘clear, relatively cold weather’ today and tonight. Temperatures of about 30 are expected.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA, FEB. 7 (U.P.) — Discovery of the fossilized bones of a duck-billed dinosaur which roamed the New Jersey coastal area 60,000,000 years ago was announced by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences today. The bones were found near Sewell, N.J., about 12 miles from Haddonfield, where the academy 90 years ago unearthed the first dinosaur skeleton found in the United States. The Sewell bones are those of a 30-foot-long hadrosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur which lived at the end of the age of reptiles and long before man appeared on the earth. The hadrosaurus walked on its hind legs and inhabited seashore areas. The name, in Greek, means ‘stout lizard.’ Dr. Horace G. Richards, who headed the academy staff which dug up the bones on a tip from a private contracting firm, said that at the time when the hadrosaurus lived, the ocean covered much of New Jersey and the coastal area was near the Delaware River. Dr. Richards said the hadrosaurus, as reconstructed by scientists from bones found in various parts of the world, had a strong, narrow tail and webbed feet, a broad snout and several hundred grinding teeth in each jaw.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “Postmaster Edward J. Quigley last night warned Brooklynites, who wish their Valentines delivered on time, to post them by Wednesday. St. Valentine’s Day is Saturday, when there will be only one mail delivery. Thursday, Lincoln’s Birthday, also will be a one-delivery day. Quigley gave 1,500,000 letters as an average day’s delivery total and compared that with delivery last Feb. 13 of 2,105,160 and last Feb. 14 of 2,671,540 letters. ‘There is every reason to believe,’ he said, ‘that many more Valentines will be mailed this year than last. Greeting card manufacturers inform me that their sales of Valentines equal their Easter greeting card sales.’”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning composer John Williams, who was born in 1932; former “Nightline” anchor Ted Koppel, who was born in 1940; “48 Hrs.” star Nick Nolte, who was born in 1941; comedian and actor Robert Klein, who was born in 1942; “The Dead Zone” star Brooke Adams, who was born in 1949; Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, who was born in 1953; former L.A. Angels manager Joe Maddon, who was born in 1954; “The Firm” author John Grisham, who was born in 1955; Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, who was born in 1961; “In Plain Sight” star Mary McCormack, who was born in 1969; Basketball Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, who was born in 1970; “Family Guy” star Seth Green, who was born in 1974; former “Saturday Night Live” star Cecily Strong, who was born in 1984; former Paramore bassist Jeremy Davis, who was born in 1985; surfer and writer Bethany Hamilton, who was born in 1990; and four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, who was born in 1990.