April 22: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 22, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Elizabeth — II? The birth of a daughter to the Duke and Duchess of York again gives those who like to speculate upon the course of the future plenty to talk about. The Prince of Wales has been credited with frequent declarations that he won’t marry. Although he is annually engaged by the wiseacres to this princess and that, and even occasionally to an American beauty, he goes his way regardless, a bachelor prince if ever there was one. So far he has shown no intention of providing an heir to the throne. And so the daughter of the Duke of York becomes an important person despite the fact that she is not yet a week old.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) — A quarter with a new design will be placed in circulation by the Treasury in three weeks or so. Bearing the head of Washington, it will replace the one which has an eagle on one side and the figure of a woman on the other. The purpose is to replace the old coin, which was of such design that it did not wear as long as experts believed it should. Because of the poor wearing quality of the old coin and faults in design, stories were widely circulated that quarters of a dollar in circulation which had no date on them were counterfeit. The report, however, was untrue and the lack of a date was due to the fact that the coin minted up to two years ago had the date raised above the rim, so that the numerals wore off quickly.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “The City Planning Commission today flashed the green light for acquisition of the substitute site for the new $6,600,000 jail and remand shelter in the block bounded by Smith St., Atlantic Ave., Boerum Place and State St. Purchase of the new jail site was asked for recently by Borough President [John] Cashmore to avoid demolition of the Friends School, which occupies part of a previous approved area on Schermerhorn St., adjoining the Central Court Building. The alternate location, assessed about $1,000 less than that of the Friends property, was selected by the Borough President and other city officials after a storm of protest was started by various civic groups to save the old Quaker school. The jail on the new site will be connected with the Central Courts Building by a tunnel under State St., city engineers pointed out. It will have a capacity of 750 prisoners — 500 adults and 250 juvenile defendants. The Planning Commissioners, in their approval yesterday, stipulated that the jail structure will not encroach upon Boerum Place, which is expected to be widened. As originally planned, erection of the prison would have necessitated demolition of the Friends School as well as several warehouses and a garage. Owners of the other buildings did not oppose condemnation proceedings. Before actual condemnation can get under way for the new site, the Board of Estimate must approve the plans. This action is expected within the next two weeks. The new prison is planned to replace the inadequate 108-year-old Raymond St. Jail, which has been notorious for a number of prison breaks. About a year ago nine prisoners, including a murderer, escaped in the city’s biggest jail break of modern times. All were recaptured.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “NANKING (U.P.) — A flood tide of Communist soldiers swept across the Yangtse into the heart of Nationalist China against crumbling resistance today, bracketing imperiled Nanking and spearing within 40 miles of Shanghai. Key Nationalist strongholds in the lower Yangtse Valley fell to the Communist onrush, along with scores of villages and hamlets. Firmly planted on the south bank of the river, Communist forces described by their radio as 300,000 strong were fanning out rapidly. Military quarters feared the whole Nanking-Shanghai sector would be sliced into isolated pockets within a day or two, making it easy prey for a quick Communist mopup.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, an Eagle editorial said, “Once again Jews all over the world celebrate the week of Passover, commemorating a people’s release from an ancient tyranny. Once again they retell the story of the Exodus, of a fighting escape from an ancient bondage. It is an old story, 25 centuries old, but also new as the recurring Spring, as mankind’s recurring and dangerous but compelling struggle to be and remain free. Prospects in that struggle are somewhat better now than, say, a decade ago, when the Hitler blood bath was loose in the world. Hitler is dead, and for the Old World’s long-suffering Jews there is a refuge and a home in modern Israel. But new world tensions and new dangers have arisen, and a new struggle, not much different from the old, confronts the world, Jews included. To the 1,000,000 Jews of Brooklyn, world’s biggest Jewish community, best Passover wishes for a happy outcome of this newest struggle for freedom. This, indeed, isn’t a bad wish for all the world, Passover or no.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1960, the Brooklyn Record reported, “Official ‘opening’ of the cornerstone, laid in 1912 when Ebbets Field was built, will highlight the Big ‘A’ Day — Auction Sale — at Ebbets Field Rotunda, on McKeever Place and Sullivan Place, Brooklyn, this coming Sunday, April 24, at 11 a.m. All are invited: young and old, male and female. Bats, balls, plaques, pennants, player stools, Ebbets Field sod, grandstand seats, bases, the pitcher’s rubber, lockers, bricks, ushers’ uniforms, pictures, electrical fixtures, bat racks and team schedules will be among the many souvenirs to be sold under the auctioneer’s gavel. Purpose of the auction sale is to raise money for a Little League ‘stadium’ which will eventually adjoin the 5½ acre site on which stood the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Field Housing, Inc., a subsidiary of the Kratter Corporation, owner of the property, will build a $22.3-million middle-income housing project on the site. Completion is expected by mid-1961.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson, who was born in 1937; “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” singer Mel Carter, who was born in 1939; novelist Janet Evanovich, who was born in 1943; “Hairspray” director John Waters, who was born in 1946; Basketball Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Knicks forward Spencer Haywood, who was born in 1949; “Show Me the Way” singer Peter Frampton, who was born in 1950; Mike and the Mechanics singer Paul Carrack, who was born in 1951; “Night of the Comet” star Catherine Mary Stewart, who was born in 1959; “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star Ryan Stiles, who was born in 1959; “The Walking Dead” star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who was born in 1966; TV host Sherri Shepherd, who was born in 1967; “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson, who was born in 1972; former Fox News Channel anchor Courtney Friel, who was born in 1980; and actress and model Amber Heard, who was born in 1986.