May 23: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “TEHRAN (U.P.) — A high Iranian Government official today denied Soviet charges that Iran has handed over control of its army to the U.S. and is violating the 1921 Soviet-Iranian treaty by accepting American military aid. The charges were contained in a note handed to the Iranian Ambassador in Moscow by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky Wednesday. The text of the note was broadcast by Radio Moscow and published in the Soviet Government newspaper Izvestia today. The Soviet reference to the 1921 treaty caused some concern here. The treaty gave the Soviet Union the right to move troops into Iran if foreign forces hostile to Russia entered Iranian territory. However, the Iranian Government spokesman denied that Iran’s retention of American military advisers at this time contravened the treaty. Moreover, he said, the American military advisers stationed in Iran comprised only a small corps and had no authority over the army or gendarmerie. They serve only in an advisory capacity, he said. He also denied the Soviet charge that Iran, by accepting American aid, was ‘cooperating with the U.S. Government in the implementation of aggressive plans against the Soviet Union.’”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — A shocked nation today wrote ‘killed in action’ across the name of former Secretary of Defense James Forrestal, who leaped to his death from the Bethesda, Md., Naval Hospital early yesterday. President Truman proclaimed a period of national mourning to last until Forrestal is buried. He ordered the flag lowered to half-staff on all public buildings, naval stations and military installations, as a symbol of the nation’s loss. The broken body of the 57-year-old New Yorker, who had been under treatment for a psychoneurotic disorder since April 2, lay in the hospital morgue awaiting his widow’s return from Paris. Mrs. Forrestal and her elder son, Michael, 21, were returned here from Paris aboard the Presidential plane, the Independence, in which Secretary of State Dean Acheson flew to the Big Four Conference in Paris last week. Funeral arrangements were held up pending Mrs. Forrestal’s return. But it was believed likely that the former Secretary, a veteran of World War I, might be interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Mrs. Forrestal had arrived in the French capital Friday, seeking a quiet home where her husband could convalesce after his release from the hospital. But release came another way for the tired man whose tough mind and body had broken under nine years of service to his country. He slipped across the deserted corridor into an empty kitchen. He stepped through the unbarred window and down into the night. Forrestal was clad in pajamas and bathrobe, with the bathrobe cord knotted tightly about his throat. Whether he tried to fasten the cord to a radiator under the window to hang himself may never be determined, hospital officials said.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “Capt. Michael E. Clavin, prominent Catholic layman and former president of the Cathedral Club, who was killed in action near Grossau, Germany, on Dec. 10, 1944, was buried today in Holy Cross Cemetery. He was the husband of Elizabeth Hickey Clavin and the father of Michael E. and Beth Clavin. He was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joseph P. Clavin, well-known funeral director, and Mrs. Della A. Clavin, of 7722 4th Ave., and was graduated from St. Mary Star of the Sea Parochial School and St. Francis Preparatory School. In 1935 he was graduated from Villanova College and on July 15, 1942 he marred the former Elizabeth Hickey in Our Lady of Refuge Church. Mr. Clavin entered the service as a private on March 7, 1941, was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and then was sent to Officers Training School. He was the holder of the Silver Star for gallantry in action and the Purple Heart with Cluster and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French Government. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of major. His leadership and coolness under fire was noted in the citation that accompanied the award of the Silver Star. Captain Clavin, who was 29 at his death, was a former president of the Holy Family Hospital Guild and was an officer of the Emerald Association. He was a member of Dongan Council, Knights of Columbus, an usher and member of Our Lady of Angels Church, and a member of the St. Patrick Society of Brooklyn and the Democratic Club of the 9th A.D. Michael E. Clavin Post 1408, American Legion, was named in his honor. In addition to his wife, children and parents, he is survived by two sisters, Mary and Peggy, and three brothers, James, Joseph and Thomas Clavin.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Brooklyn Heights Press reported, “If you should glance upward tomorrow and catch sight of the Brooklyn Bridge, wish it a happy birthday, its 80th. Four score and thirteen years ago work was started on the span that was to become an engineering marvel of beauty and simplicity. And on May 24, 1883, a quarter of a million persons crossed the bridge on the first day it was opened to the public. Today’s auto traffic across the span’s six lanes bears little resemblance to the horse-drawn vehicles that used Brooklyn Bridge in its early days. But one thing remains constant: the bridge still remains a pedestrian route for Heights folks who work in the downtown Manhattan area. Eighty years of operation have produced a varied cavalcade rolling past those four generations of pedestrians — horse-drawn carts, livestock on the hoof, cable cars, electric trolleys, elevated trains, autos and even four elephants paraded by P.T. Barnum, the showman, in 1885 to prove the span’s structural soundness.”
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Phil McCarten/Invision/AP
Seth Wenig/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Suddenly Susan” star Barbara Barrie, who was born in 1931; “Dynasty” star Joan Collins, who was born in 1933; Basketball Hall of Famer Rod Thorn, who was born in 1941; former N.Y. Mets and Yankees manager Buck Showalter, who was born in 1956; “Tuesdays with Morrie” author Mitch Albom, who was born in 1958; “Orange is the New Black” star Lea DeLaria, who was born in 1958; “The Price Is Right” host Drew Carey, who was born in 1958; “The Walking Dead” star Melissa McBride, who was born in 1965; “Pretty Wings” singer Maxwell, who was born in Brooklyn in 1973; “Hands” singer Jewel, who was born in 1974; “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler, who was born in 1986; and former NFL defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who was born in 1991.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“I like to remember phone numbers because it keeps your brain alive. If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
— actress Joan Collins, who was born on this day in 1933
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.