July 3: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “The completion of a hundred years of American Independence is a fact to startle the dullest imagination. The Republic is driving the fact into the very consciousness of the people in a variety of forms. Orators, music, processions, and every appliance to make a joyful noise are at work in all the land. A century hence, the celebrations of today and tomorrow will be as historical as the events that are commemorated now. If this great observance in progress all over the country shall rekindle love and confidence in our system of government, it will accomplish its best results, for on many sides love was lessening and confidence was abating.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1890, the Eagle reported, “BOISE CITY — The long looked for news of statehood was received here Tuesday afternoon, directly after the passage by the senate of the Idaho admission bill. The people in all parts of the state are jubilant and are now celebrating. In Boise, the permanent capital, all business was suspended on receipt of the news, and a general celebration was commenced which will be continued until the Fourth, when the President is expected to sign the bill. Delegate Dubois, chairman of the Republican state committee, has telegraphed a call for a meeting of the committee on the 15th inst. at this place.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “CHICAGO — On the Monmouth-Maywood air mail experimental track are being tested eight new different types of airplanes from which it is hoped to develop a standard mail plane. The all-metal monoplane, the first of the Ford series, is capable of carrying 1,000 pounds or more of mail, while the ‘Carrier Pigeon’ and ‘Mercury’ have similar capacity. The others include a ‘World Cruiser’ type, a Boeing, a Huff-Deland and a Cox Clemens. Present air mail planes of the De Haviland type carry only 500 pounds of mail, due to lack of cubic capacity.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman are going in for preparedness in a big way. They’re building two nurseries in their new home.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Since the death of OPA, wholesale food prices have zoomed to the highest general level in 26 years, it was reported today by Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. The agency reported on a survey of 31 food commodities and revealed that 14 of these showed increases in price this week, as compared to last week. These included flour, wheat, corn, oats, barley, lard, butter, cocoa, beans, steers, hogs, sheep and lambs. Eggs and potatoes registered the only declines, the report said. The remaining 15 were unchanged. According to the survey, the index of 31 commodities on July 2 stood at $4.54, compared with $4.35 a week earlier and $4.11 a year ago. On July 29, 1920, the index was $4.57. On the meat front, the Agriculture Department today forecast an end to the beef famine in a week or ten days, but industry sources said consumers will have to pay steep prices for top-grade meat. Liberated from ceiling prices, operators were reported to be pouring livestock into Western markets, and a line of cattle trucks three miles long was reported in Omaha. It was estimated that it would take about a week for the meat to reach the consumer’s table by way of slaughterhouse and refrigerators of wholesalers. Increased prices were forecast in view of the withdrawal of subsidies from slaughterers and boosts in rates paid for cattle on the hoof to the raisers.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1959, the Brooklyn Spectator reported, “It appeared certain this week that the planned Narrows Bridge from Ft. Hamilton to Ft. Wadsworth, S.I., will be named the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in honor of the Italian explorer, who was the first white man reportedly to sight the shores of Brooklyn in 1524. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, sponsors of the bridge, announced on Wednesday that they would request the State Legislature next January to approve the name officially.”
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Andy Kropa/Invision/AP
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who was born in 1935; “The Mod Squad” star Michael Cole, who was born in 1940; “That ’70s Show” star Kurtwood Smith, who was born in 1943; “Lookin’ for Love” singer Johnny Lee, who was born in 1946; humorist Dave Barry, who was born in 1947; “Eight is Enough” star Betty Buckley, who was born in 1947; Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Mike Burton, who was born in 1947; TV host Montel Williams, who was born in 1956; Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy, who was born in 1956; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode), who was born in 1960; “Top Gun: Maverick” star Tom Cruise, who was born in 1962; “The Simpsons” star Yeardley Smith, who was born in 1964; “Wonder Woman” star Connie Nielsen, who was born in 1965; six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, who was born in 1970; “The Newsroom” star Olivia Munn, who was born in 1980; and World Cup-winning soccer player Crystal Dunn, who was born in 1992.
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THOUGHT FOR FOOD: Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was born in Michigan on this day in 1908. With the publication of her first book, “Serve It Forth” (1937), she essentially invented a new genre: essays about food. Her other works include “The Gastronomical Me” (1943) and “With Bold Knife and Fork” (1969). She died in 1992.
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HELP IS ON THE WAY: On July 3, 1976, an Israeli commando unit staged a raid on the Entebbe airport in Uganda and rescued 103 hostages on a hijacked Air France airliner. Three hostages, seven hijackers and 20 Ugandan soldiers were killed in the raid. The plane had been en route from Tel Aviv to Paris when it was taken over by pro-Palestinian guerrillas.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“First we eat, then we do everything else.”
— food writer M.F.K. Fisher, who was born on this day in 1908
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’.