March 29: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 29, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1850, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Ralph Waldo Emerson will deliver his last lecture before a Brooklyn audience this evening, at the Female Academy in Joralemon street. His subject on this occasion is, ‘England.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY — Fire-swept, smoke-strewn and water-drenched, New York State’s magnificent $25,000,000 Capitol stands this morning a partial wreck by flames that started in the Assembly Library, burned away the entire west wing and did damage estimated at between $5,000,000 and $7,000,000 before the flames were declared under control by First Assistant Fire Chief Shattuck at 7 o’clock, after raging more than four hours. It is believed that the fire was started by a fused electric push-button becoming electrified. Half an hour after the flames were considered under control the flames broke out afresh, but they were soon subdued. Again at 10 o’clock the blaze broke out, but after valiant efforts by the firemen, who were in constant danger from falling debris, all further danger was believed to be over. One man, Samuel Abbott, is missing, and probably was burned to death. Military supervision, approaching martial law, was established early in the forenoon. So strict were the guardsmen that occasional state officials were held up until they could be identified. Capitol attaches knew a better trick, however, and made their ingress through windows in the Public Service Commission offices. Wreck, ruin and confusion reign everywhere in the wrecked Capitol.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, MARCH 28 — Secretary of Labor James J. Davis has no idea how many aliens are being smuggled into the United States at the present time. It may be a hundred a day or it may be a thousand. To get the facts on this smuggling problem which is bothering immigration officials more than anything else today, Secretary Davis has called a conference here this summer to formulate an improved policy for stopping the leaks and to collect data to use before Congress at the next session to put through more drastic immigration legislation.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Betty Smith’s story of ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ highlights the gala Easter show at the Albee, where the heartwarming drama opened today for its Brooklyn premiere. The characters from Betty Smith’s novel come to life on the screen with Dorothy McGuire playing ‘Katie,’ who struggles to have her children ‘amount to something’; James Dunn as ‘Johnny,’ her irresponsible singer-waiter husband; Peggy Ann Garner as ‘Francie,’ Joan Blondell as ‘Aunt Sissy,’ Ted Donaldson as ‘Neeley’ and Lloyd Nolan as ‘Officer McShane.’ Others in the cast of the film include James Gleason, Ruth Nelson and John Alexander. Director Elia Kazan, dynamic young screen newcomer from Broadway, frowned on glamour for his principal players … They wear meager wardrobes and a minimum of makeup. As a result, they don’t look like movie stars pretending to be poor.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “The campaign to bring back the cop on the beat in Brooklyn gained further momentum today as the Kings County Criminal Bar Association joined borough civic organizations and individuals in calling for action by city officials on the matter of police protection. Copies of a resolution, unanimously approved last night at a meeting of the association at Michel’s Restaurant, 346 Flatbush Ave., were forwarded to Mayor [William] O’Dwyer and Police Commissioner William P. O’Brien. … Recommending an increase of the force to 25,000 men, ‘with a proper allotment of foot patrol police for Brooklyn,’ the resolution praised O’Brien for ‘doing an excellent job with the present force.’ An increased police personnel and additional foot patrolmen ‘would give immediate relief and would make Brooklyn a better and safer place in which to live,’ the resolution concluded.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “HANOI, INDO-CHINA (UP) — Outnumbered defenders of Dien Bien Phu killed 1,000 Communists in a thrust from the encircled fortress that wiped out a big Red artillery nest, the French high command said today. The slaughter of the Reds in an attack that lasted three hours yesterday was the first major blow the French have struck against the forces of Communist Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap since the rebels began their all-out assault on Dien Bien Phu more than two weeks ago. Officers said they counted at least 1,000 bodies of fanatical Communist soldiers who preferred death to surrendering their network of machine gun, mortar and anti-aircraft cannon nests. The guns were set up in the ruined village of Ban Ong Pet, 2½ miles southwest of the fortress. Ben Ong Pet had been one of the points from which the Reds had fired on Dien Bien Phu’s airstrips, preventing hospital and supply planes from landing. French officers described the counterattack as ‘like lightning’ and said French losses were ‘very light.’ American-made tanks lurched across a network of narrow Communist trenches dug around the emplacement for communication and supply. Some of the Communists were buried alive by sand and dust when the trenches collapsed under the weight of the tanks.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Ordinary People” author Judith Guest, who was born in 1936; Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., who was born in 1941; “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” star Eric Idle, who was born in 1943; N.Y. Knicks legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Walt Frazier, who was born in 1945; Pro Football Hall of Famer Earl Campbell, who was born in 1955; “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star Marina Sirtis, who was born in 1955; Jane’s Addiction founder Perry Farrell, who was born in 1959; actress and comedian Amy Sedaris, who was born in 1961; Oakland A’s executive Billy Beane, who was born in 1962; model and actress Elle Macpherson, who was born in 1964; “Xena” star Lucy Lawless, who was born in 1968; International Tennis Hall of Famer Jennifer Capriati, who was born in 1976; and “Smash” star Megan Hilty, who was born in 1981.