April 25: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 25, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1884, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “In the Ohio Republican State Convention at Cleveland yesterday, John B. Foraker, Congressman William McKinley, Mark A. Hanna and Judge William H. West were elected delegates at large to the Republican National Convention. The first three named are supposed to be for Sherman and the last for Blaine.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1886, the Eagle reported, “PARIS, APRIL 24 — A stock company with a large capital has been organized for the purpose of erecting the tallest tower ever seen in the world in time for the International Exposition of 1889. The tower is to have a total height of 984 feet and will be supported on four pillars higher than the steeple of Notre Dame. The whole structure will cost $208,000. It will be surmounted by a group of electric lights, which will illuminate all Paris, and will, it is estimated, be visible at Dijon, 197 miles distant.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1896, the Eagle reported, “During Queen Victoria’s absence from Windsor an elaborate system of private telephones has been installed at the castle, connecting it with the post office, railroad stations, Marlborough house, Buckingham palace, etc., and the system is being extended to the government offices, Balmoral castle, Scotland, and Osborne house, Isle of Wight.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1896, the Eagle reported, “The American athletes, who have covered themselves with glory in the Olympic games at Athens, Greece, passed through Turin, Paris and London on their way home and just caught the North German Lloyd steamship Spree at Southampton on Thursday evening. They all expressed themselves as being delighted with their trip, though anxious to get back home. The Athens correspondent of the Graphic writes: ‘The young victorious Americans have created a furor for athletics in the hearts of young Greece and they have been tremendously feted and worshiped, especially by the Greek ladies.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, Eagle columnist Preston Grover said, “The victory of Lyndon Johnson, newly elected House member from San Antonio, is being advertised as a triumph for the president’s court proposal. On the surface it was; but many astute Texas authorities suspect Johnson’s popularity as head of the national youth movement there would have afforded him a victory regardless of the position he took on the court plan.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “Willa Sibert Cather, one of America’s outstanding novelists, whose story ‘One of Ours’ won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922, died yesterday afternoon at her home, 570 Park Ave., Manhattan. She was 70. Miss Cather was born on a farm near Winchester, Va., her ancestors having come from England, Ireland and Alsace. Her family moved to Nebraska when she was 8 and she was graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1895. For a while she taught school and did newspaper work in Pittsburgh, Pa., and each summer visited in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. In the meanwhile she had started writing, and her first published work was a volume of verse, ‘April Twilights.’ Most of her stories had their setting in the West. They were noted chiefly for their simplicity and charm of manner, and the accurate picture they gave of home life on the prairies. Her early books included ‘My Antonia’ and ‘O Pioneers.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1958, the Bay Ridge Home Reporter said, “Asking for a quick end to the controversy over the Seventh Ave. approach to the Narrows Bridge, City Construction Coordinator Robert Moses called on the Board of Estimate for approval of the Moses plan for the Bridge approach. In a letter of April 10, Moses stated that ‘exhaustive studies’ by engineers of the Port Authority and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority ‘show that the route of the approach submitted herewith is the most economical, has the minimum right-of-way cost, and will request the least dislocation of homes.’ Commissioner Moses also maintained that the Shore Route, asked by the Save Bay Ridge Committee, would be ‘enormously costly, wholly impractical, and require the relocation of more families.’ Gov. [Averell] Harriman recently vetoed legislation which would have legalized the Shore Route, Moses further reminded the Board. According to Moses, the plan as proposed by himself would pay for itself under an agreement for subsequent purchase of the bridge and its approach by the Triborough Authority. Most of Mr. Moses’ statements are denied by spokesmen for the Bay Ridge group, who are fighting to save more than 2,500 homes along Seventh Ave., the proposed Bridge route.”

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Renee Zellweger
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival), who was born in 1945; “Rocky” star Talia Shire, who was born in 1946; “The Mist” star Jeffrey DeMunn, who was born in 1947; three-time Super Bowl champion Randy Cross, who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; political commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, who was born in 1961; “The Simpsons” star Hank Azaria, who was born in 1964; Erasure singer Andy Bell, who was born in 1964; sportscaster Joe Buck, who was born in 1969; three-time Super Bowl champion Darren Woodson, who was born in 1969; two-time Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger, who was born in 1969; Basketball Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who was born in 1976; “Queen of the Damned” star Marguerite Moreau, who was born in 1977; former NFL running back DeAngelo Williams, who was born in 1983; and Olympic gold medal-winning triathlete Gwen Jorgensen, who was born in 1986.