March 14: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 14, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1864, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial said, “We beg to call the attention of the ball-playing fraternity of this city to the importance of taking some action this season to encourage and promote the organizations of junior ball clubs, and we do it thus early in order to get the boys to work by May at the furthest. It is not only for the interest of ball clubs individually that the juniors should be encouraged to organize themselves into clubs, thereby schooling a lot of young players to become eligible for joining the senior clubs, but with a view of perpetuating our national game, for unless the juniors are taught the game and young clubs are created and kept alive, the game will not take long to die out. What would have become of our president leading clubs but for the junior players that have imparted new life to them.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1873, the Eagle reported, “In the Atheneum at the corner of Clinton and Atlantic streets toward night, Brother Wyman will deliver a lecture on the condition of Ireland. At its close, shamrocks brought from the ‘ould’ country will be distributed among the audience.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1892, the Eagle reported, “MILWAUKEE, WIS., MARCH 12 — The Daily Journal today publishes a letter from Grover Cleveland which removes all doubt that he will be a candidate before the Chicago convention. Mr. Cleveland writes in response to a letter from General Edward S. Bragg of Wisconsin, author of the famous phrase ‘We love him for the enemies he has made.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1900, the Eagle reported, “LONDON — The Prince and Princess of Wales paid a surprise visit today to the new poor man’s restaurant in the East End, started by Sir Thomas Lipton’s Alexandra trust. Their royal highnesses purchased tickets for dinner at 4½ pence (ten cents) and each of them partook of the ordinary fare. The Prince and Princess afterwards inspected the premises and received an ovation from the throngs of working people.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1901, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — At 10:30 o’clock this morning President McKinley issued a proclamation formally notifying the people of the country of the death of Benjamin Harrison, former chief magistrate of the United States, and directing the observance of a period of mourning for thirty days. In pursuance of this proclamation the flags on every public building and at every army post in the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii and the Philippines, and on every American warship in whatever quarter of the globe, will fly at half mast for thirty days.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1904, the Eagle reported, “Thirty-nine persons occupied three tables at the two hundred and thirty-third monthly dinner of the Thirteen Club last night, in the dining room of the New York Press Club. It was an Irish dinner. A string of thirteen herrings was suspended above the heads of the guests. The menu, printed in green ink, contained thirteen Irish dishes, including Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, Irish potatoes, pig’s head, Dublin stout, green tea, dudheens and ’baccy and Irish whisky. John Wall was the guest of honor and spoke on ‘Superstition in Ireland.’ Entertainment was afterward furnished by ‘Mickey Finn,’ W.B. Green and other members of the club. Herbert Ardell did thirteen clever tricks in parlor magic, but failed to rouse the superstitions of the guests. A number of the guests were from Brooklyn.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1908, the Eagle reported, “‘The Recent Solar Eclipse Expedition to South America’ will be explored in an illustrated lecture at the Polytechnic on Wednesday evening. This is to be given by Mrs. Mabel L. Todd of Amherst, Mass.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s cavalrymen are home again. Just eight days less than nine months from the time that their vanguard rode forth from the armory at Bedford avenue and Union street to answer the Nation’s call, the troopers rode back into the armory this afternoon, and the First New York Cavalry, N.G.U.S., had ended its term of faithful, loyal service on the Mexican border.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “A State Senator and a Flatbush storekeeper today joined in the expanding appeal to put policemen back on the streets in order to cut down crime in Brooklyn. The Senator, Louis L. Friedman, a Democrat, made his appeal in a letter to Police Commissioner William P. O’Brien, contending that several hundred beat men could be obtained without added cost by stopping the practice of having city police escort insurance company cashiers on trips to banks. Let the companies hire their own armed guards, he said. The storekeeper, Daniel Gordon, proprietor of the Dan-D-Andy stationery store, 4021 Glenwood Road, reported that for the third time in two months neighborhood vandals had smashed the plate glass window of his store ‘and if we only had a foot patrolman assigned here on weekends this would never have happened.’ Gordon said instances of that kind of malicious mischief had cropped up repeatedly since the war and he had asked for police help from the 63rd Precinct and once in a letter to the then Police Commissioner Arthur Wallander. He got no help.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — Radio Moscow said today that 99.96 percent of Russia’s 111,008,625 registered voters cast ballots in the Soviet general elections Sunday. The total vote, Moscow said, was 110,964,172, with more than 99 percent backing the single list of candidates put up by the Communist party. The only alternative for the Soviet voter was to scratch out the list. There were no other candidates.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine, who was born in 1933; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Quincy Jones, who was born in 1933; “Help!” star Eleanor Bron, who was born in 1938; “The Princess Bride” star Billy Crystal, who was born in 1948; “Disco Duck” writer Rick Dees, who was born in 1950; former N.Y. Yankees catcher Butch Wynegar, who was born in 1956; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Tamara Tunie, who was born in 1959; “Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson, who was born in 1965; “The Hughleys” star Elise Neal, who was born in 1966; former N.Y. Knicks forward Larry Johnson, who was born in 1969; “Hawaii Five-0” star Grace Park, who was born in 1974; “American Pie” star Chris Klein, who was born in 1979; two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who was born in 1988; “West Side Story” star Ansel Elgort, who was born in 1994; and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles, who was born in 1997.