February 16: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 16, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1884, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The funerals of the late Mrs. Martin Roosevelt, the wife of the late Theodore Roosevelt, and Mrs. Alice Roosevelt, wife of Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt, took place to-day from the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. There were a large number of people present, including Mayor [Seth] Low.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1898, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nothing except absolute declaration of war could have created greater excitement in this city and about the Navy Department than the news of the terrible disaster that has overtaken the splendid second class United States battleship Maine. Before Secretary John D. Long reached his office at the Navy Department this morning his anteroom and the lobbies about the rooms of the chief of the Bureau of Navigation and the secretary were filled with excited people. Officers of the army and navy elbowed poorly dressed women, the wives and sweethearts of sailors who were aboard the wrecked vessel. Shortly before 10 o’clock Senator Lodge of Massachusetts, Chairman Boutelle of the House Naval committee and Congressman Hillburn, another member of that committee, were admitted into the Secretary’s room. They remained with Mr. Long about two hours. Messenger boys with cablegrams were admitted while they were there. At the close of the interview Senator Lodge said to the Eagle correspondent: ‘The situation is extremely grave and I for one cannot see how the disaster of the Maine could have been caused by an accident.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1903, the Eagle reported, “The State Board of Health will to-night submit a report to the Legislature showing the progress of the bubonic plague in California. This report is to be made in response to a request made by Assemblyman Ellis of Manhattan. The state authorities are co-operating with Surgeon General Wyman of the United States Hospital Marine Corps in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease. The State Board of Health has posted orders in all the affected points in California and Mexico, notifying the railway and other transportation officials that all shipments of goods to the East must be rigidly inspected at quarantine. Unless these orders are obeyed the State Board of Health has declared its intention to place an embargo on all ships coming into this state. In its report to-night the board will ask the Legislature to give it added power to enforce its authority. The report is expected to provoke discussion among the members of the Legislature from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Buffalo and other sections of the state where large shipments of goods from the Pacific coast are received.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1903, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C. — James R. Garfield of Ohio was to-day appointed by the President to be commissioner of corporations in the new Department of Commerce. The appointment probably will go to the Senate to-morrow. Mr. Garfield is now a member of the Civil Service Commission. Mr. Garfield is the second son of the late President Garfield. He was appointed a civil service commissioner in March, 1902, by President Roosevelt. With his brother, Harry A., he has been engaged in the practice of the law, and he is, beside, a notable figure in the politics of Ohio. He was a short time ago a state senator. He is about 38 years old and married.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1912, the Eagle reported, “The Fleet Street A.M.E. Zion Church has donated $6 to the Harriet Tubman charity fund through Mrs. M.C. Lawton. The women’s clubs have decided to assist Mrs. Tubman, who is in need in her declining years. She is looked upon as the ‘Moses’ of her race, having led many to safety who escaped from bondage before the Civil War.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — A mighty armada of British bombers — comprising the bulk of the night’s raiding fleet of some 1,200 planes — sent nearly 3,000 tons of explosives crashing down on devastated Berlin last night in the heaviest aerial assault ever made on a single target. While the main force of 1,000 planes rained blockbusters and incendiaries on Berlin at the rate of 140 tons a minute, another 200 Lancasters feinted 50 miles to the east and dropped 300 tons of bombs on railway yards at Frankfort-on-Oder. Only 45 planes — less than 4 percent of the raiding fleet — were lost in all operations last night. All but 200 of the participating bombers were four-engined aircraft. Protected by thick cloud cover, the sky-filling force of four-engined bombers arrived over Berlin about 9 p.m. and dropped the entire 2,800-ton-plus bombload in 20 minutes. The Thunderbolt assault was believed to have devastated a large section of Berlin, already partly in ruins from 14 previous major attacks in the last three months. The remainder of the capital was believed temporarily paralyzed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “‘Tomorrow Is Forever’ is one of the new season’s most important motion pictures, co-starring Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles and George Brent, introducing Natalie Wood, a six-year-old actress who has set Hollywood a-buzz, and featuring 18-year-old Richard Long, who so far has made two films, not yet seen, and who already has been signed by 20th Century Fox to co-star with Jeanne Crain in ‘Margie.’”

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LeVar Burton
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, who was born in 1944; “The Greatest American Hero” star William Katt, who was born in 1951; “Roots” star LeVar Burton, who was born in 1957; rapper and actor Ice-T, who was born in 1958; former N.Y. Knicks player and coach Herb Williams, who was born in 1958; International Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe, who was born in 1959; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pete Willis (Def Leppard), who was born in 1960; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), who was born in 1961; “24” star Sarah Clarke, who was born in 1972; “WandaVision” star Elizabeth Olsen, who was born in 1989; and “Can’t Feel My Face” singer The Weeknd, who was born in 1990.