November 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 5, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1860, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “Democrats of Kings County, the defeat of Lincoln in a great measure depends upon your action tomorrow. This is one of the strongholds of conservatism, and the eyes of the country are upon us.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1892, the Eagle reported, “Fifty-thousand men, in close and even line, being the members of the Business Men’s Cleveland and Stevenson Democratic club, paraded the streets of New York this afternoon, while on every side resounding cheers filled the air, and mingled with the sounds of music to the honor of the representatives of Democracy.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1908, the Eagle reported, “Republican leaders are already considering ways and means to bring about the election of a Republican mayor in New York City next fall. It is the consensus of opinion among the politicians of both parties that the chances for Republican success in the city election are very bright.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Eagle reported, “NEWARK, N.J. — Members of the National Woman’s party, who had urged the election of Charles O’Connor Hennessy to the Senate ‘short-term’ in a 24-hour open-air meeting, closing here at 6 a.m. today, continued their work at the polls this afternoon, urging the defeat of Senator David Baird, who voted against the suffrage amendment. The women claimed that election of Mr. Hennessy, whose candidacy is favored by President Wilson, would aid in passing the Susan B. Anthony amendment.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C. — The strangest, weirdest jiu jitsu political artist that ever appeared in American history seems to have got himself safely and even triumphantly back into the White House. He has gone with an apparently clean sweep from the New England Atlantic Coast to the waters of the Mississippi, across the northern and central industrial States, and then he seems to have gone across the Mississippi and the Pacific. The details will come dribbling in during the next two days. The main middle-line calcium light feature of the results is the personal victory by Calvin Coolidge. It is a victory by the Coolidge personality and, more than that, it is a victory by the Coolidge strategy. Political Washington is today analyzing the results from the standpoint of what Coolidge has done and what Coolidge in the future will do. It is clear that he will not have a Senate that will fully meet his wishes. Some of President Coolidge’s friends have supposed that if he got himself back into the White House on his own account and after a fight on his own personality and by his own strategy, he would be able to dominate Congress. The results in the matter of the Senate show that this is not going to be so.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle said, “‘Brother Rat’ is a continuous series of preposterously funny moments from the time Cadet Randolph is caught by the commandant innocently debagged (as the British say) in the home of his girl friend after hours until the moment that Bing distributes the traditional cigars to commemorate his blessed event. Wayne Morris still shows little improvement as an actor in his playing of Randolph; Priscilla Lane does much better as his girl friend. But the laurels go to the newcomers and Jane Byra as the secret wife and such Warner favorites as Johnnie Davis, Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman and Henry O’Neill.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “The angriest political campaign in recent American history is in its final bitter hours tonight and the voters will cast their Presidential ballots Tuesday in an election whose winner perhaps may not be known for days or weeks after the polls close. The unknown factor is the armed services absentee vote. In 11 States with an aggregate of 123 electoral votes, absentee service ballots are counted in whole or part after other ballots have been tallied. The latest count is Dec. 7 in North Dakota. The most significant delayed count probably will be in Pennsylvania, which casts 35 electoral votes and for which complete returns will not be available until Nov. 22 or even later. All service ballots in Pennsylvania will be impounded for the late tally. Pennsylvania officials estimate that 648,000 absentee ballots were sent to members of the armed forces and that 210,000 votes will be returned to tally. The State cast 4,060,000 votes in 1940 of which President Roosevelt had a slim majority of 282,000. In any contest as close as that, the potential service vote would be more than sufficient to determine the winner.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Brooklyn Spectator reported, “Election Day just isn’t what it used to be. A new era has dawned, and Tuesday was definitely an illustration of the modern trend. Gone the bonfires, gone the rowdyism, gone the glorious drinking sprees, and, finally, gone the milling crowds around Times Square. The few hundreds of persons who gathered at 42nd St. and Broadway were definitely apathetic. Nobody could blame it on the weather, which was ideal. It’s just modern inventions — the radio and television — which add up to ‘new times, new customs.’ The holiday tradition for Election Day is deader than the Dodo.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “A Shot in the Dark” star Elke Sommer, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Art Garfunkel, who was born in 1941; former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, who was born in 1945; Herman’s Hermits founder Peter Noone, who was born in 1947; “To Die For” author Joyce Maynard, who was born in 1953; “Terminator 2” star Robert Patrick, who was born in 1959; Songwriters Hall of Famer Bryan Adams, who was born in 1959; Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, who was born in 1960; Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal, who was born in 1963; “X-Men” star Famke Janssen, who was born in 1964; “Scrubs” star Judy Reyes, who was born in 1967; Oscar-winning actor Sam Rockwell, who was born in 1968; former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, who was born in 1973; and former N.Y. Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who was born in 1992.

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BREAKING NEWS: John Peter Zenger published the first issue of the New York Weekly Journal on this day in 1733. He was arrested and imprisoned for libel on Nov. 17, 1734. The trial remains an important landmark in the history of the struggle for freedom of the press.

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SHATTERDAY: On this day in 1946, Brooklyn-born Chuck Connors of the Boston Celtics became the first NBA player to shatter a backboard. It happened during the pre-game warm-up in Boston Garden. Connors also played major league baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs and starred in the TV series “The Rifleman.”

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

Quotable:

“Life is about growth. People are not perfect when they’re 21 years old.”

— Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was born on this day in 1952