August 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

August 8, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — Miss Alice Wilson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Wilson of Baltimore and niece of President Wilson, and the Rev. I. S. McElroy Jr. of Columbus, Ga., were married last evening at the White House. It was the fifteenth wedding to take place at the Executive Mansion and the third during the present Administration.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “LOCUST VALLEY, L.I. — Long Island is a long way off from Arizona, but there has been no lack of contentment for the two cunning brown bear cubs which were born in the mountain fastnesses of that far State, captured alive by Assemblyman and Mrs. Trubee Davison a few weeks ago, and installed at the Davison place at Peacock Point, to the great delight of Trubee Jr., 2½-year-old son of the Assemblyman. These two bear cubs are now three months old and stand about 3 feet or more in height. They are funny little fellows and seem perfectly at home in the wire enclosed quarters which were made for them, and which Trubee Jr. tries his best to enter. The bear cubs are named ‘Ornery’ and ‘Mazatal,’ the latter for one of the mountains where Mr. and Mrs. Davison had their hunting trip. They were shipped north in a small crate and last month, held in leash, were taken over to Mineola to advertise the motion pictures which Assemblyman Davison showed for the benefit of the Legion Post there. Ornery and Mazatal are due for another trip this week, for they have been presented to a park up State and within a few days are to be shipped to their future home there.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Japan will be defeated by air power and the atomic bomb ‘exclusively’ without an invasion, according to Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. The World War I ace declared today that bombings should demoralize the enemy in the near future and ‘make them cry quits.’ ‘This is strictly an air power show in the Pacific’ he said. ‘Japanese communications are already disrupted and the entire country’s food transportation disorganized. Destruction of Japan’s electrification system is already in an advanced stage.’ … Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, University of California scientist who worked on the bomb, today refuted early reports that Dr. George B. Kistiakowsky ‘threw his arms about me with shouts of glee’ when the test in the New Mexico desert was successful. ‘Dr. Kistiakowsky didn’t embrace me,’ Dr. Oppenheimer declared. ‘He slapped me on the back and asked me for the $10 he bet me.’ Dr. Oppenheimer was doubtful as to the outcome of the test as the zero hour grew near and the wager was made.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “NASHVILLE (U.P.) — Representative Albert Gore unseated 83-year-old Senator Kenneth McKellar, who was seeking an unprecedented seventh consecutive term in the Senate, and Frank Clement, an attorney, defeated Gov. Gordon Browning today in Tennessee’s Democratic primary … The 44-year-old Gore piled up a 65,000 vote lead in his triumph over McKellar. Returns from 2,110 of the State’s 2,423 precincts gave Gore 246,540 votes to McKellar’s 181,021 … Gore’s headquarters in Memphis, where the battle may have been decided by the closeness of the vote even though McKellar was ahead, became a setting for celebration.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Brooklyn Spectator reported, “Sales of liquor, wine and beer will be prohibited on Primary Day, Aug. 19, during the hours the polls are open, the State Liquor Authority announced yesterday. The ban will apply in New York City between the hours of 3 and 10 p.m. John F. O’Connell, S.L.A. Chairman, said that the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law provided that ‘no premise licensed to sell liquor and or wine for off-premises consumption shall be permitted to remain open on any day of a general or primary election during the hours when the polls are open.’ He added that a similar restriction applied to sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. In New York City, beer may be sold for off-premises consumption during the voting hours by grocery and drug stores.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include TV producer Donald P. Bellisario, who was born in 1935; Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, who was born in 1937; actress and singer Connie Stevens, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; “CHiPs” star Larry Wilcox, who was born in 1947; “Madam Secretary” star Keith Carradine, who was born in 1949; drummer and producer Willie Hall, who was born in 1950; “Midnight Run” director Martin Brest, who was born in 1951; drummer Anton Fig, who was born in 1952; radio personality Robin Quivers, who was born in 1952; “Happy Days” star Don Most, who was born in Brooklyn in 1953; “Inside Edition” anchor Deborah Norville, who was born in 1958; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer the Edge (U2), who was born in 1961; rapper and actor Kool Moe Dee, who was born in 1962; tennis champion Roger Federer, who was born in 1981; N.Y. Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was born in 1989; and “Senorita” singer Shawn Mendes, who was born in 1998.

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A LEG UP: Russell Markert was born on this day in 1899. The New Jersey native and choreographer founded the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and directed them from 1932 to 1971. He died in 1990.

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UPS AND DOWNS: Dino De Laurentiis was born in Italy on this day in 1919. After spending 30 years producing movies in Europe, including several Fellini films, he came to the U.S. in 1976. Over the next 35 years he produced a diverse assortment of Hollywood projects, including “Serpico,” “Blue Velvet” and “Manhunter,” along with bombs like “King Kong,” “Flash Gordon” and “Dune.” He died in 2010.

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

Quotable:

“If no producer, no movie.”

— filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis, who was born on this day in 1919