June 25: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1892, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reprinted the following editorial from the Philadelphia North American (Rep.): “The nomination of Grover Cleveland for the third time as the Democratic candidate for the presidency is something far beyond the triumph of political combinations and political management. It is a splendid and honorable tribute to the integrity, the consistency and the courage of the man who, having honest and earnest convictions concerning public policies, has dared to assert them, regardless of all but his own confidence that his beliefs were right and for the best interests of his country. The great masses of the American people are cast in the same good mold. They respect a man who is true to himself, and they have shown in both parties that they are stronger than the leaders of factions.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Eagle reported, “The population of the Continental United States is estimated at 105,000,000 by J.A. Hill, chief statistician of the Census Bureau. His calculation is based on the combined populations of 1,406 cities and towns for which statistics have been announced. The increase over 1910 is placed at about 13,000,000, showing the growth of the country has not kept pace with the previous decade. Almost complete cessation of immigration during the war is the chief reason assigned for the falling off in growth. Other suggestions were the two influenza epidemics, return of aliens to their native lands and deaths of soldiers abroad and at home during the war.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “ALLIED SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, LONDON (U.P.) — American infantrymen captured the last heights overlooking Cherbourg and stormed down the slopes to within 1,000 yards of the flaming port today, sweeping up hundreds of exhausted prisoners and huge quantities of arms and ammunition abandoned by the retreating Germans. Battered and stunned by the hellfire of bombs and shells rained on them from land, sea and air, the Nazi defenders still fought back with fanatical fury, but front dispatches said Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s Yankee veterans were beating them back foot by foot in a narrowing death trap inside the city. Two of the three forts on the southern approaches to the port fell to the attacking Americans yesterday and United Press War Correspondent Henry T. Gorrell reported from the battlefield that the last hours of Cherbourg’s siege were at hand.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “WALTHAM, MASS. (U.P.) — A woman seeking U.S. citizenship papers did all right with the examination until she came to a question about the flag. To the query, ‘What flies over the state house in Boston?’ she replied: ‘Pigeons.’”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “NEWPORT (U.P.) — A 23-year-old Washington heiress will be married in September to Senator John F. Kennedy, the ‘most eligible bachelor’ of capital society, whom she met a year ago while working as an inquiring photographer. The family of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who made her debut at a Newport dance in 1948, announced the engagement here last night. The wedding will take place Sept. 12 in this summer rendezvous of high society. Kennedy, 36, son of multimillionaire Joseph P. Kennedy, was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts last fall on the Democratic ticket. He defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, who has since been appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Miss Bouvier, onetime art student at the Sorbonne in Paris, is the daughter of John V. Bouvier 3rd of New York and Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss of Newport and McLean, Va. … Kennedy, who served three terms in the House before his election to the Senate, was graduated from Harvard in 1940 and commanded a PT boat in the Pacific during World War II … He and his eight brothers and sisters each received $1,000,000 from their father, former U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Amazin’ Willie Mays took over the major league home run leadership from Stan Musial yesterday with a two-run blast that helped tiny Don Liddle pitch the New York Giants to a four-hit 2-1 triumph over the Milwaukee Braves. Mays crashed one of Lefty Warren Spahn’s fast balls into the upper left field stands in the second inning for his 23rd home run of the season. The blow, which followed a single by Don Mueller, was Mays’ fifth homer in the last four games and provided Liddle with the margin for his first complete game victory this year.”
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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Lassie” and “Lost in Space” star June Lockhart, who was born in 1925; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carly Simon, who was born in 1943; “Good Times” star Jimmie Walker, who was born in 1947; Toto singer David Paich, who was born in 1954; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was born in 1954; “After Life” star Ricky Gervais, who was born in 1961; former N.Y. Yankees catcher Mike Stanley, who was born in 1963; Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, who was born in 1966; “ER” star Linda Cardellini, who was born in 1975; and internet personality Lele Pons, who was born in 1996.
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TO THE BITTER END: The Battle of Little Bighorn was fought on this day in 1876. Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, leading military forces of more than 200 men, attacked an encampment of 2,000 Sioux Indians led by Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse near Little Bighorn River, Mont. Custer and all men in his immediate command were killed in the two-hour battle.
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GET SET: The first color TV broadcast took place on this day in 1951. CBS produced the four-hour program, which was carried by stations in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., although no color sets were owned by the public. At the time, CBS itself owned fewer than 40 color receivers.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“If the Third World War is fought with nuclear weapons, the fourth will be fought with bows and arrows.”
— Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was born on this day in 1900
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’.