April 28: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 28, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) — The flags of Germany and Ireland which the Bremen carried on its transatlantic flight were laid across the grave of Floyd Bennett today by the German and Irish fliers to commemorate his fidelity to the traditions of the air … The aviators went to Arlington National Cemetery early and participated in a simple ceremony at the grave of their fellow airman, who succumbed to illness contracted while flying to their aid at Greenly Island. First, Capt. Herman Koehl placed a wreath of green on the fresh earthen mound, which was already completely covered by floral tributes. Then Baron von Huenefeld went slowly forward and unfolded the flag of his country to top the wreath of his companion. He was followed by Maj. James Fitzmaurice, who lifted a huge silken emblem of green, white and orange. This Irish flag alike was spread sidewise over Floyd Bennett’s resting place. Finally, Maj. Howard Williams, commandant at Bolling Field, produced a smaller emblem of the Stars and Stripes, which he put beside the Irish flag.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) — An attack by Senator [William] Borah upon the Government efforts to have citizens turn in their gold, in which the Idaho Senator said if he had $5,000 in gold he would ‘defy the Government to come and get it,’ pitched the Senate into a gold and banking debate today and delayed a vote on the bonus. As the Senate drove toward a ballot on the Administration’s currency expansion program, the Independent Republican asked: ‘Suppose the head of a family has preserved and placed where he believes it safe a certain amount of gold and has in a sense provided it as insurance against adversity; why should the Government insist that he bring it in and put it in a bank that may fail?’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “Duke Ellington will work a special shortwave from Dave Wolper’s place to Brazil tonight and at 12:35 a.m. Friday will have a special program of his pieces in honor of his 44th birthday.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “DENVER, APRIL 27 (U.P.) — The army air forces lifted wartime secrecy tonight from a war-born radar device capable of locating from the air any spot on the earth’s surface with all but perfect accuracy. AAF experts said the contrivance, called ‘Shoran’ — short for ‘short range radar’ — was the greatest geographic invention since the compass and opened vast areas of the world to mapping. The ‘Shoran’ technique of electronic charting was hailed as the ‘answer to extremely accurate direction of automatically controlled missiles and other weapons’ and also as the beginning of a new era of navigation. The complicated radar device, developed originally for ‘through-the-overcast’ bombing, is being turned by a special AAF board to the gigantic peacetime job of producing a new and accurate map of the face of the earth. The mapping possibilities have been assigned to the 311th reconnaissance wing of the AAF and two business concerns — Radio Corporation of American and Minneapolis-Honeywell regulator company — for further development in the geodetic field. Lt. Col. Carl I. Aslakson of the 311th reconnaissance wing said the device makes possible a geodetic control network of the entire world and for plotting the distance of every point within a few feet of all other points on the globe. ‘Shoran’ will poke its charting fingers through miles of water to map the depths of the oceans and seas, and the trackless spaces of the earth’s surface.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Some 2,500 more Brooklyn boys and girls received inoculations today in the nationwide test of the new Salk vaccine against polio. An indication of how well the test was received in Brooklyn came today at the St. Mary Mother of Jesus Parochial School, 85th St. and 23rd Ave. A total of 92 requests for vaccine shots had been received, but when the inoculation teams showed up today there were 150 children waiting for the shots. The inoculations completed the first phase of the largest mass evaluation of a vaccine in medical history. The youngsters will get a second injection next week and a third and final booster shot a month later.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1955, the Bay Ridge Home Reporter said, “The Save Bay Ridge Committee prepared today to carry its fight against the Narrows Bridge to Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson in the form of a formal petition seeking a review of the department’s approval of the bridge. Congressman John H. Ray (R., Bay Ridge-S.I.) has agreed to present the petition to Secretary Wilson. Michael F. Whalen, an attorney of 46 Gatling Pl., legal advisor to the Committee who drafted the petition to the Defense Dept., said it would be based on the argument that a joint Army-Navy-Air Force board was not qualified to decide on such a matter of local significance. Meanwhile, officers of the committee made plans to gain a year’s grace in their bridge fight with a court suit based on a legal technicality. At a Save Bay Ridge rally Thursday night at McKinley Jr. High School, Committee President J. Gerald Shea announced the group’s intention to spend $1,000 of committee funds to hire legal counsel to challenge the validity of city legislation regarding the bridge. The attorney tentatively selected, John H. Finn, of the law firm of Kelly, Finn & Brisach, 150 Broadway, Manhattan, would argue in a taxpayer’s suit that the City Council meeting of March 31, providing necessary groundwork for the state bill, was invalid. The New York City Charter stipulates that the Mayor must give one full day’s notice of a City Council meeting to be published in the City Record. The suit would be based on the legal technicality that since one day’s notice was not given, the City Council’s Home Rule message to Albany is invalid.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former Secretary of State James Baker, who was born in 1930; former N.Y. Yankees closer Pedro Ramos, who was born in 1935; “Viva Las Vegas” star Ann-Margret, who was born in 1941; comedian and talk show host Jay Leno, who was born in 1950; former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who was born in 1952; “Battlestar Galactica” star Mary McDonnell, who was born in 1952; Sonic Youth founder Kim Gordon, who was born in 1953; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who was born in 1960; Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, who was born in 1964; “Lost” star Jorge Garcia, who was born in 1973; Oscar-winning actress Penelope Cruz, who was born in 1974; “Sin City” star Jessica Alba, who was born in 1981; former NFL quarterback Blake Bortles, who was born in 1992; and N.Y. Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who was born in 2001.