August 4: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 4, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1930, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pluto’s Playmates, the annual shower of Perseid meteors, are due Monday night, Aug. 11. They are dubbed Pluto’s Playmates after the newly discovered planet Pluto, because the outer edge of their orbit is believed to be close to the path where the new planet swings. A good show is promised — 50 to 150 meteors an hour, for patient watchers who are lucky enough to get the right sky conditions. The public is invited to sit in this year and help the astronomers by getting hourly counts of the Perseids. These reports should be sent to Dr. Charles P. Olivier of the American Meteor Society and director of Flower Observatory of the University of Pennsylvania.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “BERLIN (A.P.) — Jesse Owens, Ohio State Negro all-around star, won the Olympic broad jump title today, following up his earlier triumph in the 100-meter sprint. Owens won his second title of the 11th Olympiad with a leap of 8.06 meters (26 feet 5 21/64 inches), shattering the previous record of 25 feet and 4 3/4 inches, made by Edward Hamm in the 1928 games.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “BOSTON, MASS. (U.P.) — The virus that causes polio can now be grown and studied in the test tube, opening the way for an accelerated four-pronged attack on infantile paralysis. The accomplishment in itself by Harvard University’s Children’s Hospital scientists in developing a new technique to grow the virus outside the human body is great enough, but the ultimate gains may be even greater. The new work is being done by these investigators in the Research Division of Infectious Diseases, Children’s Medical Center, Boston, and is financed by funds from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Scientists previously were able to grow the polio virus for a short time in a test tube, using nerve tissue for culture. The Children’s Hospital Research team, however, has now found that the virus will grow and multiply in a culture with other types of human tissue.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — Clarence House, a cream-painted mansion across a strip of green from Buckingham Palace, is a busy place these days. They are getting ready for the birth there about Aug. 12 of a child who will be third in line of succession to the British throne. Whether a boy or a girl, the child will rank after Princess Elizabeth and her first son, Prince Charles, in the line of succession. Charles was born Nov. 14, 1948. Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, will see to it that Charles always is the center of attention, regardless of how many other children they may have. That is part of the chubby youngster’s training to be king after the reign of his mother.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — Food prices, already at an all-time high, may soon be driven to even dizzier peaks by the drought and livestock disease epidemics now stalking the nation’s farms, officials said today. A worried spokesman for the Office of Price Stabilization summed up the outlook in one sentence: ‘The food price situation certainly looks bad for housewives.’ He pointed out that under the new controls law, all fruit and vegetable prices are entirely exempt from price ceilings and the OPS has only limited power to check increases on other food items. Agriculture Department officials said the future supply of beef, milk, corn, potatoes, peanuts, peaches, vegetables, cucumbers, berry crops and many other foods is jeopardized by the drought which has scorched crops from Maine to Mississippi. They said it is still too early for an accurate estimate of how much food will be lost because of the prolonged dry spell. But it doesn’t take an expert to see that the situation adds up to shorter supplies and higher prices in general.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “There were 39,365 crimes committed in Brooklyn — better, or worse, than one every seven minutes — during the first six months of 1954, the Police Department disclosed today. Forty-four persons were murdered in those six months, an average of one every four days. If the current rate of crime in Brooklyn continues through the rest of the year, 1954 will show an 11.1 percent increase over last year — slightly higher than the city-wide average and well above the national figure. Once every 17 minutes a felony was committed. Every 30 hours, on the average, some woman was raped. Every day there were 40 burglaries committed. The semi-annual statistics served to spotlight the assertion by Police Commissioner [Francis W.H.] Adams that crime and violence are getting out of hand and will continue to unless more policemen are put on the streets.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include 1969 Mets World Series hero Cleon Jones, who was born in 1942; Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins, who was born in 1949; former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was born in 1955; Oscar-winner Billy Bob Thornton, who was born in 1955; thoroughbred jockey Chuck C. Lopez, who was born in Brooklyn in 1960; former President Barack Obama, who was born in 1961; seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, who was born in 1962; “Lost” star Daniel Dae Kim, who was born in 1968; political correspondent Bret Baier, who was born in 1970; “Rectify” star Abigail Spencer, who was born in 1981; Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who was born in 1981; “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig, who was born in 1983; soccer player Kelley O’Hara, who was born in 1988; and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” stars Cole and Dylan Sprouse, who were born in 1992.

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LIVING IN STYLE: Louis Vuitton was born on this day in 1821. The French fashion designer and businessman founded the brand of leather goods now owned by LVMH. He apprenticed as a trunk maker and packer and worked for Empress Eugenie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, before launching his own business. He died in 1892.

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IN GOOD FAITH: James Springer White was born on this day in 1821. The native of Palmyra, Me., co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant denomination that emphasizes the second coming of Jesus Christ. In 1849 he founded the periodical The Present Truth, which is published today as Adventist Review. He died in 1881.

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

Quotable:

“Our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They’ve got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.”

— former President Barack Obama, who was born on this day in 1961