April 3: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 3, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1874, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The bill appropriating a million dollars in aid of the Centennial was signed by the Mayor of Philadelphia yesterday, and a copy transmitted to Washington.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1887, the Eagle reported, “Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide for 1887, published in New York, and Reach’s Official American Association Base Ball Guide for 1887, published in Philadelphia, are timely productions, containing about everything which base ball players and spectators are likely to desire. Many mysteries pertaining to the sport must vanish before the perusal of these works.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1892, an Eagle editorial said, “Among those who ‘fear that Grover Cleveland cannot carry New York state, if renominated for the presidency,’ are not any members of the Republican party in this commonwealth. They feel that he can and believe that he will. Nor does any Democrat really apprehend that he could not carry the state next fall. Several of them are feigning such an apprehension, but only for the purpose of securing the nomination for another Democrat, under whom their little hole and corner local booms would not wither. The nomination of Mr. Cleveland would be equivalent to the assurance of New York to the Democratic ticket. The people are for him. Some of them are Democrats and some of them are Republicans but, whether Democrats or Republicans, they are Cleveland men. They know that the country would be safe in his strong hands.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “Dr. Clyde Fisher, curator of the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History, announced today that he will head an expedition to Peru to study and photograph a ‘stranger-than-fiction’ solar eclipse which will occur June 8. ‘All of the conditions of the eclipse make it a remarkable one,’ Dr. Fisher said. ‘In some respects, it can be called even stranger than fiction, for it actually ends the day before it starts. This is due to the fact that it travels from West to East across the International Date Line, where the old day ends and the new day begins. The eclipse begins at dawn on Wednesday, June 9, West of the Date Line, and in three hours travels across the Pacific to the coast of Peru, where it ends at sunset on Tuesday, June 8.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “MILWAUKEE (AP) — Thomas E. Dewey took control of Wisconsin’s 24-man delegation to the Republican National Convention today while Democrats of the State went 3 to 1 for a third term for President Roosevelt. On the basis of returns from 2,079 of the State’s 3,011 precincts in yesterday’s primary, the slate pledged to the New York prosecutor was running an average of 60,000 votes ahead of that pledged to Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan in the four delegates-at-large races. Comparable leads were reported from the district contests. The Democratic vote in 2,028 precincts totaled 274,593, divided thus: Roosevelt, 209,071; [John Nance] Garner, 65,522. In the delegate-at-large competition, Dewey polled 132,808 to Vandenberg’s 84,586 in 2,079 precincts. Dewey was the pulling power for a showing of increased Republican strength. Incomplete returns from the district delegate races showed Dewey threatened with the loss of only one of the 20 seats. He was assured of 14 seats and his candidates were leading those of Vandenberg in five other contests. Whether Wisconsin Democrats can back up their 3 to 1 favoritism of the third term at the nominating convention this Summer remained doubtful. Mr. Roosevelt swept the preferential primary, an advisory vote, from Vice President Garner, but whether the President would find a solid 24-vote delegation in his ranks at Chicago, was questionable.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “Donning overalls and forgetting about their pink-tinted fingernails, ten members of the Brooklyn unit of the American Women’s Volunteer Service essayed the role of ‘grease monkeys’ in a class in motor mechanics last night at the service department of Dugal G. Campbell, Inc., Myrtle Ave. and Gold St. The group, which last week learned the theory behind fixing balky motors, did a complete carbon and tune-up job on two autos, making the motors hum much better at the completion of their work than at the start. The idea behind the classes is to train the women to make minor automobile repairs on the road in the event they are pressed into service in a national emergency, according to W.J. Brennan, service manager of Campbell’s. A similar class of 14 meets Tuesday nights.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, APRIL 2 (U.P.) — A half million tourists thronged into Washington today for the capital’s annual cherry blossom festival. The colorful ring of trees circling the tidal basin burst into full bloom several days ago and were kept alive for the weekend fete by hormone sprays. Defense Secretary Louis A. Johnson opened the two-day carnival this afternoon, crowning pretty Judy Queen of Billings, Mont., as queen of the festival. The weatherman contributed an almost perfect day for the occasion, with clear skies and temperatures in the upper 50s.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Two of Warner Bros.’ most ambitious screen productions, ‘Captain Horatio Hornblower’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ have been booked into the Radio City Music Hall. The new pictures will play in successive engagements beginning about the middle of June. ‘Captain Horatio Hornblower,’ Technicolor production starring Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo and directed by Raoul Walsh, is based on the popular sea adventure stories by C.S. Forester. ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is based upon Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize and Critics Award winning Broadway stage success. Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando head the cast of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ an Elia Kazan production produced by Charles K. Feldman.” (Editor’s note: Two-time Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando was born 100 years ago today. He died in 2004.)

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “March-in-April weather was the vogue today as gale-strength winds ranging up to 45 miles an hour hit Brooklyn, accompanied by freezing weather. The gusty winds will continue all day today and tonight, but will diminish tomorrow. Temperatures tonight will descend to the 20s. Low for the morning was 30 degrees, registered at 7 a.m.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Courageous Casey Stengel gamely keeps striving to make some semblance of order out of baseball’s mess — the New York Mets. The patchwork Mets occasioned quite a bit of surprise in Florida by playing better than .500 baseball through their first 20 exhibition games of the spring. They looked a lot better down here than the bedraggled crew which set a modern record by losing 120 games last year. Still, they’re a long way from being a winner and shrewd old Casey knows he can be in for another long and weary summer. ‘We’re a better club now than we were a year ago,’ Stengel claims. ‘I ain’t gonna say where we’re gonna finish and I don’t see how anyone can. I’ll say this much, though: We’re sure not going to lose 120 games again.’” (Editor’s note: Stengel was right. The 1963 Mets lost only 111 games.)

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include primatologist Jane Goodall, who was born in 1934; singer-songwriter Jeff Barry, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; singer-songwriter Tony Orlando, who was born in 1944; jazz pianist and singer Mitch Woods, who was born in Brooklyn in 1951; “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin, who was born in 1958; “Frasier” star David Hyde Pierce, who was born in 1959; “Beverly Hills Cop” star Eddie Murphy, who was born in Brooklyn in 1961; former N.Y. Giants running back Rodney Hampton, who was born in 1969; “Beverly Hills 90210” star Jennie Garth, who was born in 1972; “MADtv” star Aries Spears, who was born in 1975; “How I Met Your Mother” star Cobie Smulders, who was born in 1982; singer and actress Leona Lewis, who was born in 1985; actress and musician Hayley Kiyoko, who was born in 1991; and actress and musician Paris Jackson, who was born in 1998.