March 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 2, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1867, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Nebraska is now a State in the Union, she having complied with the conditions imposed upon her by act of Congress. The fundamental condition was that there should be no denial of the elective franchise to any person by right of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1890, the Eagle reprinted the following story from the Cor. St. Louis Republic: “Professor John Philip Sousa, the famous leader of the famous Marine Band, is going to call the services of the consuls and consular agents of the United States to his aid in collecting some of the national anthems which he is about to publish under authority of the Navy Department. When the Queen of England held her jubilee two years ago a volume of national anthems was issued under the authority of the British Government, containing about thirty-five musical selections. Among them was Professor Sousa’s arrangement of ‘Hail Columbia,’ forwarded through the State Department at the request of the British Foreign Office. The French Government issued a volume some time ago containing twenty-five anthems, but the most complete collection ever issued was that of Germany, which contained sixty-one. Professor Sousa’s collection contains 116 anthems and he is making an effort through the State Department to obtain sixty more. He prepared early this week a letter which the State Department will forward to its representatives with a view to obtaining, if possible, the missing pieces of music. The 116 songs which Professor Sousa now has represent the labor of thirteen years.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1892, an Eagle editorial said, “The Democratic state committee of Georgia has issued a call to the Democrats of that state to organize themselves into clubs and other bodies to demand and secure the renomination of Grover Cleveland. Aside from the desirability or undesirability of the renomination of Mr. Cleveland, is the fact that a state committee has no right to be the friend or the enemy of any candidate for President and no right to do anything but call the convention of the party to express the party’s own will, in an orderly way, at a suitable time and place.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “(AP) — A woman Vice President in 1936 is the aim of the League for a Woman President and Vice President. With that in view, efforts are under way throughout the country to facilitate presentation of a woman’s name for Vice President to the national conventions of the two major parties next year. ‘If a woman can inherit a throne why can’t she earn the Presidency?’ asks Lillian D. Rock, founder and president of the league. Miss Rock, a lawyer, is credited with the successful reorganization of the National Association of Women Lawyers and conducted a whirlwind, countrywide campaign on behalf of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 campaign. ‘Today,’ Miss Rock said, ‘in the United States somewhere there actually lives the first woman President of this country. The League for a Woman President is organized to pave the way for her.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “The Brooklyn Paramount Theater, now operated by the Paramount Theater Corporation, which also manages the Times Square Paramount, has been redecorating during the past three months at a cost in excess of $250,000. Under the supervision of Hal Periera, Paramount studio set designer, the borough theater has taken on a modern motif. The theater’s art collection, valued at $850,000 when the Paramount was opened in 1928, has also been placed on display again after being in storage for several years.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — Government buildings bristled with extra guards today and Federal agents moved swiftly against a fanatical band of Puerto Rican assassins that has terrorized official Washington twice in less than four years. The FBI investigated a possible Communist link in the bloody violence that erupted in the House of Representatives yesterday. United States and Puerto Rican government officials were outraged. Five Congressmen fell wounded in the fantastic fusillade. The shots that rocked the world were fired from a spectators’ gallery by Puerto Rican nationalist hotheads led by a petite, pistol-packing brunette who said defiantly: ‘I am not sorry what I did.’ Speaker Joseph W. Martin Jr. directed the House Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate immediately ‘the background of any subversive plot’ against this Government and its officials. Meanwhile, Speaker Martin canceled all outstanding cards of admission to the House of Representatives as Federal officials agreed on a ‘temporary’ security plan to guard against any new terroristic acts. Martin issued 10,000 new cards of admission to the House galleries and warned members to be careful about giving them out.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “PARIS (UPI) — Sources here said yesterday that France plans to explode her first thermonuclear device on a South Pacific island by mid-1964 under a speed-up program to give the French an independent nuclear force regardless of U.S. objections. The French sources said the test would involve a ‘baby’ H-device about halfway between an atomic bomb and a true hydrogen bomb and probably would take place in the Gambier Islands, about 1,000 miles southeast of Tahiti. Some 1,500 French technicians already were reported to be either at Mangareva Island in the Gambiers or en route there to prepare for the test which President de Gaulle’s government feels will speed by at least four years the time needed for France to attain full H-bomb capacity.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Northern Exposure” star John Cullum, who was born in 1930; “The World According to Garp” author John Irving, who was born in 1942; original “Saturday Night Live” star Laraine Newman, who was born in 1952; Missing Persons singer Dale Bozzio, who was born in 1955; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi, who was born in 1962; former Atlanta Braves outfielder Ron Gant, who was born in 1965; rapper and actor Method Man, who was born in 1971; “Pitch Perfect” star Rebel Wilson, who was born in 1980; “Jurassic World” star Bryce Dallas Howard, who was born in 1981; N.Y. Rangers legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist, who was born in 1982; singer-songwriter Becky G, who was born in 1997; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was born in 1998; and Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco, who was born in 1999.