March 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 8, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1908, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, MARCH 7 — A few weeks ago half a dozen military Betsy Rosses got together in the war council room, where the strategists of the army and navy make up schemes for the protection of our coasts and plan invasions of foreign countries. The fighters this time were not mapping out a war campaign, but were planning a new arrangement of the stars in the American flag, made necessary by the admission of Oklahoma into the Union. As everyone knows, a new star is added to the blue field in the national emblem every time the Union is enlarged by the admission of a new state. When Oklahoma and Indian Territory were invited into the family of commonwealths, the governmental flagmakers were summoned together to rearrange the stars by making room for one to represent Oklahoma. Curiously enough, there is no law designating any particular branch of the government as the official designer of the American flag. Custom has assigned this duty to the Navy Department. In recent years the naval authorities have invited the army to participate in determining changes in the emblem, and this work has been done by members of the joint board on coast defense, of which Admiral Dewey and General Bell are the leading navy and army officers, respectively.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY — Adjutant General Verbeck, following a conference with Governor Dix, today issued the following statement: ‘Should the President find it necessary to call regular troops from New York State to assist in any further concentration of troops, such organizations of the National Guard of this state as may be necessary to protect property stand ready to occupy any forts, barracks or reservations from which regular troops have been withdrawn.’ … General John G. Eddy, commanding the Second Brigade of N.G.N.Y, was asked today if the National Guard here had received any orders either to go, to hold themselves in readiness, or to anticipate preparing to go to the ‘maneuvers’ of the United States Army in Texas along the Mexican frontier. General Eddy responded ‘No’ to each interrogation. He would express no opinion about the startling mimic war plans of the government other than to say that he believed ‘the government might have something back of its plans.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle reported, “ROME (AP) — Daylight saving time may be the next Fascist reform for the betterment of Italian working conditions, in the opinion of Marcus Marks, former President of the Boro of Manhattan, New York, who explained the working of daylight saving in the United States to Premier Mussolini. ‘Mussolini is the most magnetic man I ever met and the most interesting,’ Mr. Marks said. His wife and daughter, who were present at the interview, expressed the same opinion.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “For a long time John Philip Sousa scorned radio. Finally he was won over and thereafter became its staunchest booster. His Wednesday night broadcasts were bright events, programs he looked forward to each week. He always said he wanted to die in harness and so he did after rehearsing the Ringgold band in Reading. He began his broadcasting activities in May, 1929, presenting 10 programs. Later he offered another series of concerts on the air, and several months ago began what was to be his last series on the air. Tomorrow night’s broadcast at 8:30 over WEAF will be presided over by Arthur Pryor and his band featuring the highlights of the march king’s compositions. Pryor and Sousa knew each other intimately for many years. Deems Taylor, the noted composer, will also appear on the program, to pay tribute to the man. Sousa’s death removes from the air one of the most lovable musicians radio has had the pleasure to present to listeners.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “ORANGE, CAL. (U.P.) — An ‘orange roll’ instead of the traditional Easter egg roll on the White House lawn was suggested to Mrs. Harry S. Truman today by Mrs. A.H. Heineman. ‘The President asked us to save eggs,’ she wrote. ‘Why not have children roll oranges on the White House lawn to save eggs?’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “People have been hearing about Hollywood’s annual ‘Oscar’ awards for a long time, but this year, for the first time, they may both see and hear the winners of the gold statuettes since the awards program will be on television for the first time. NBC has obtained both TV and radio rights for the event for $100,000. Televiewers and radio listeners will be able to join the audience in the RKO Pantages Theater in Hollywood, where the ceremonies will take place on March 19, as the sealed envelopes containing the name of the winner in each category are opened. The awards are interesting in themselves, but with Bob Hope as master of ceremonies this year the proceedings are bound to take on new luster for the participating unseen audience. This will be the 25th annual Academy Awards presentation. ‘Oscar’ makes only one appearance a year, and neither the Hollywood filmites nor the public has ever lost interest in his performance since 1928 when he first made his appearance.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “MIAMI, MARCH 8 — Henry Aaron, only 20 and a right-handed hitter, is the Braves’ rookie eye-catcher. Though still on the Toledo roster, the kid outfielder has a good chance to stick with the Milwaukee varsity.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include jazz saxophonist George Coleman, who was born in 1935; “Webster” star Susan Clark, who was born in 1943; Songwriters Hall of Famer Carole Bayer Sager, who was born in 1944; Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz, who was born in 1945; Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice, who was born in 1953; “Dateline NBC” anchor Lester Holt, who was born in 1959; “The Practice” star Camryn Manheim, who was born in 1961; former NBA point guard Kenny Smith, who was born in 1965; “She’s All That” star Freddie Prinze Jr., who was born in 1976; “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek, who was born in 1977; and “Heartstopper” star Kit Connor, who was born in 2004.