April 10: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 10, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1865, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reprinted the following letter: ‘“Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865. Lieut. General U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A.: General: —I have received your letter of this date containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you; as they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, R.E. Lee, General.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1895, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C. — ‘As soon as the Fifty-fourth congress convenes I intend to offer a bill in the senate to repeal the income tax,’ said Senator David B. Hill to the correspondent of the Eagle this afternoon. ‘I believe that the action of the supreme court has practically emasculated the measure and has left so little in it to commend itself to the American people that congress will in short order repeal the obnoxious measure from the statue books. In connection with the action of the court of Monday, I think the Brooklyn Eagle should be congratulated. Its course, from first to last, has been patriotic, consistent and just, and in its editorial columns it has never wavered in its opposition to the income tax law, and if the law is repealed the Eagle can claim a great deal of credit or the victory achieved.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — Marian Anderson, Negro contralto who was barred from two Washington auditoriums because of her race, sang to more than 75,000 persons yesterday in a free, open-air concert beneath the statue of Abraham Lincoln. The halls from which she was barred seat 4,000 and 1,000 persons. The throng jammed the mall between the Shrine of the Great Emancipator and the Washington Monument. It was broadcast to millions of others. Miss Anderson almost wept when she thanked the audience for its applause. She had been introduced by Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes, who arranged the concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution and the city school board had refused to let her hire their auditoriums. ‘In this great auditorium under the sky all of us are free,’ Ickes said. ‘When God gave us this wonderful outdoors and the sun, the moon and the stars, He made no distinction of race or creed or color.’ On the platform with Ickes were Associate Justice Hugo Black of the Supreme Court, Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Senator Robert Wagner (D., N.Y.) and many other officials.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Brooklyn Spectator reported, “On Tuesday night, April 14th, at 9:00 P.M., Bay Ridge and the entire southwestern part of Brooklyn will hold a complete blackout for 20 minutes, in accord with an announcement made during the past week by Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine. Inasmuch as no siren will be sounded for the drill, every householder, storekeeper, tenant or anyone displaying any kind of illumination will be expected to follow the example of air raid wardens by carefully watching the time and turn out all lighting at 9 P.M. The all-clear will be effected in the same manner. All traffic lights will be extinguished and transportation will cease excepting emergency, ambulances, fire engines and police cars. Subways will be allowed to run but exterior lights will be turned off. Defense plants will not be affected by the test. If you have prepared a ‘Refuge Room’ or if you know your home is thoroughly equipped for a blackout, it will not be necessary to remain in darkness. By all means, however, be certain that no light is visible from the outside.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Declaring the present city police force is inadequate to cope with a rising tide of crime, Mayor [William] O’Dwyer today defended his $857,131,849.90 executive budget and called for speed in its adoption. ‘We have had four murders and stickups in the last two days,’ he asserted at a public hearing before the Board of Estimate in City Hall. ‘You can’t possibly maintain law and order with 15,000 policemen. I can’t recommend to this board that we go slow on this.’ The mayor’s statement was prompted by three clue-less killings in upper Manhattan and the Bronx and the slaying early today of a sailor during a robbery attempt in a Times Square alley. At the same time, police hauled in another 120 gambling suspects in the citywide crusade ordered by the mayor, bringing the two-day total of gambling arrests to 237. The mayor also backed up his budgetary plans for strengthening the Fire Department; pointed out that streets were ‘filthy’ and declared hospitals have gone unpainted for six years. ‘There is no place in those items that I can go slow on,’ he commented.”

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Jamie Chung
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Mandy Moore
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Ken Griffey, Sr., who was born in 1950; “Out for Justice” star Steven Seagal, who was born in 1952; “Sophie’s Choice” star Peter MacNicol, who was born in 1954; Fox News Channel analyst Juan Williams, who was born in 1954; singer-songwriter and record producer Babyface, who was born in 1959; Stray Cats founder Brian Setzer, who was born in 1959; “MADtv” star Orlando Jones, who was born in 1968; “Supergirl” star Chyler Leigh, who was born in 1982; “The Gifted” star Jamie Chung, who was born in 1983; “This Is Us” star Mandy Moore, who was born in 1984; singer Haley Westenra, who was born in 1987; and “Purple Hearts” star Sofia Carson, who was born in 1993.