September 21: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 21, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1895, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Residents on Fulton street and Bedford avenue and two or three other thoroughfares were treated to a novel spectacle yesterday afternoon. One of the horseless carriages that have recently been imported from France was run along Fulton and other streets starting from in front of the store of Abraham & Straus. The event marks, perhaps, the beginning of a new departure in the matter of transportation for men and freight. The trial trip was successful in that it was accomplished safely and the utility of the new vehicle was demonstrated to Brooklynites, as it was some time ago to Europeans and more recently to New Yorkers. Yesterday, however, was the first time one of the vehicles was operated in this city. It is the intention of the dry good firms Abraham & Straus to use the auto-mobile vehicles as delivery wagons, provided their utility as such is practically demonstrated. The conveyance exhibited yesterday was a four seated carriage, but wagons for carrying parcels are in Paris and the manufacture of them will shortly be begun in this country. There is one in use now by a New York house.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Eagle said, “BOSTON, MASS., SEPT. 20 — Here in Massachusetts, Gov. Calvin Coolidge is known as ‘the man who goes through with it.’ ‘Go-through’ Coolidge he is often called. It is one of the highest compliments that could be paid him. As Massachusetts expresses it, the meaning behind those words is this: That Calvin Coolidge is thorough in everything he undertakes. He makes up his mind slowly, but when he has made it up, when he has determined what seems to him to be the right and just thing to do, he never turns back until his purpose is accomplished. Criticism may rain about him, party leaders may attempt to swerve him, but Coolidge ploughs a straight furrow to the end. He has some of the qualities of the historic granite stone on which the Pilgrim Fathers first set foot. He has shown it in the present strike troubles which have turned the city of Boston upside down. There may or there may not be a general strike. The heavens might tumble about the State of Massachusetts, but Coolidge will remain unshaken. He will stand just as firmly as he stood a day ago, or a week ago or ten days ago. He has said that he will protect the sovereignty of the commonwealth, that there will be no further disorder, if he can prevent it, and you can wager everything you have that he will make good on those words. To hear him say it with his thin lips set in an uncompromising line, in his deliberate way, is to believe him.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s own baseball Dodgers, it was announced today, will finish their season in Ebbets Field in a blaze of doubleheaders, calculated to bring this year’s attendance well over the magic million mark. The announcement to that effect was formally made today at a luncheon in the Hotel Bossert of the Brooklyn Young Men’s Chamber of Commerce, which will sponsor Dodger Appreciation Day a week from Saturday and Million (Fan) Day, Sunday, Oct. 1.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (U.P.) — Andrei Y. Vishinsky told the United Nations today that the Communist demands concerning the Korean peace conference membership ‘must be met and cannot fail to be met.’ ‘Things do not change in any way because of the fact that the American camp succeeded in putting through the Assembly a decision obviously not in accord with the armistice agreement,’ Vishinsky said as the General Assembly resumed its policy debate. ‘Nonbelligerent countries should participate also in the conference if they are directly interested in a Far Eastern settlement and could contribute to its success.’ He was referring to the resolution sponsored by the United States and the other UN Korean war Allies which the Assembly approved in August, calling for a two-sided conference of belligerents only, plus Russia if ‘the other side desires it.’ Communist China and North Korea countered with a demand that the Assembly reopen its debate on the conference set-up. They called for a round-table parley among all the belligerents with Russia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Burma as well.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include 1988 NBA Coach of the Year Doug Moe, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who was born in 1943; actress and author Fannie Flagg, who was born in 1944; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Don Felder (the Eagles), who was born in 1947; “Doctor Sleep” author Stephen King, who was born in 1947; Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore, who was born in 1949; “Ghostbusters” star Bill Murray, who was born in 1950; “Friends” co-creator Marta Kauffman, who was born in 1956; Oscar-winning filmmaker Ethan Coen, who was born in 1957; “Full House” star Dave Coulier, who was born in 1959; “Last Man Standing” star Nancy Travis, who was born in 1961; former N.Y. Yankees first baseman Cecil Fielder, who was born in 1963; “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines, who was born in 1965; TV personality Nicole Richie, who was born in 1981; “Lost” star Maggie Grace, who was born in 1983; and “The Walking Dead” star Christian Serratos, who was born in 1990.

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THE JOURNEY BEGINS: “The Hobbit” was published on this day in 1937. University professor J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic featuring Bilbo Baggins was published by George Allen & Unwin in the U.K. Well-received by critics and the public, it has never been out of print. Its international success spurred Tolkien to amplify his world of hobbits, dwarves, elves and dragons in “The Lord of the Rings” in the 1950s.

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KICKOFF TIME: “Monday Night Football” premiered on this day in 1970. Following the complete merger of the American Football League and the National Football League, ABC joined CBS and NBC in televising weekly games. The show began as an experiment but soon became an institution. Announcers Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Don Meredith called the first game, a 31-21 victory by the Cleveland Browns over the New York Jets.

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

Quotable:

“I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: ‘Try being rich first. See if that doesn’t cover most of it.”’

— actor Bill Murray, who was born on this day in 1950