December 16: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

December 16, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “In the grim, gray abandoned house at Greenburgh, Westchester, in which elderly Albert H. Fish had murdered, by his own confession, ten-year-old Grace Budd, evidence was unearthed yesterday of other homicides which he may have committed. Although the wizened, hawk-faced house-painter in the Tombs persisted that he never killed anyone ― except the one little girl ― Westchester county’s medical examiner, Dr. Amos O. Squire, expressed the belief that a man like Fish was ‘apt to commit other murders,’ and, seeking evidence along that line, sent a squad of men digging under the basement of the Greenburgh house. Late yesterday afternoon they dug up some 30 bones which ‘resembled human bones,’ varying in length from an inch to ten inches each. ‘Of course it is possible,’ said Dr. Squire, ‘that people who lived in this house used to bury their dogs under the basement floor. But I would be better satisfied of that if I could find a few dog skulls. So far no skulls of any sort have been found.’ That made him believe that it was not animal bones he was dealing with. He would, at any rate, submit them to professors of anatomical research at Columbia who, he believed, could determine whether they were human or animal bones.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) ― Prime Minister Churchill, who celebrated his 69th birthday Nov. 30, has been stricken with pneumonia, presumably somewhere in the Mediterranean area, a dramatic announcement in the House of Commons revealed today. ‘His general condition is satisfactory as can be expected,’ a bulletin read by Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee to a stunned House declared. However, the well-informed British Press Association said there was ‘no reason whatever to deduce that the Prime Minister’s attack is unduly serious.’ The bulletin did not disclose Churchill’s whereabouts, but Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden said Tuesday the Prime Minister had decided not to return with him because there remained ‘important work for him to do in the sphere where he is.’ Churchill only last week concluded an historical round of conferences at Cairo and Teheran with President Roosevelt, Premier Stalin, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and President Inonu of Turkey.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1943, the Eagle reported, “Before a gathering of awed doctors in Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, it was learned today, seven patients appeared Tuesday night in a living demonstration of the curative wonders of the army’s new super-drug, penicillin. The patients ranged in age from 7 to 52. All of them had been ill of subacute bacterial endocarditis (inflammation of the lining of the heart), previously accepted as a fatal disease. On all, sulfanilamide treatment had been attempted, but all were found resistant to the sulfa drug and that treatment had to be abandoned. For one of the seven, then a patient in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Manhattan, the last rites of the Catholic Church were conducted. But at the doctors’ meeting in Leon Louria Auditorium, all seven appeared, smiling, happy, to all intents and purposes cured.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “If you envy the life of a sardine, brother, don’t fail to buy your Christmas Week train or bus ticket because you’re in for a bone-crushing time. If you’re thinking of getting a rail or plane reservation for the holidays ― forget it. You have as much chance as a snowfall in an oven. In case you haven’t learned it yet, pal, the GIs come first in the nation’s travel lines. And there’s plenty of them around. They’re being discharged, going home on furlough or being shipped from one spot to another. It all adds up to one fact: The nation, and New York City particularly, is staggering under the greatest traffic load in its history. Take the advice of the Office of Defense Transportation: Stay home. A survey of travel facilities revealed the following: Rail and air reservations for the Christmas week are non-existent. The only thing you can depend on is a cancellation and they’re as rare as uranium. Even waiting lists have been closed down. Airline reservations are sold out to Feb. 1, Brooklyn Travel Bureau, 186 Remsen St., said, and seats for holiday trips to the West Coast and Florida were madly grabbed up and sold out two weeks ago.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle said, “President Ike says flying saucers don’t come from outer space. They don’t come from the U.S. Government either. The Government would never throw away saucers without the cups.”

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Krysten Ritter
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include actress and author Joyce Bulifant, who was born in 1937; “Face to Face” star Liv Ullmann, who was born in 1938; journalist Lesley Stahl, who was born in 1941; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tony Hicks (The Hollies), who was born in 1945; “The Walking Dead” star Xander Berkeley, who was born in 1955; former N.Y. Giants center Bart Oates, who was born in 1958; former NFL tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry, who was born in 1962; “Law & Order” star Benjamin Bratt, who was born in 1963; “Ford v Ferrari” director James Mangold, who was born in 1963; “Jessica Jones” star Krysten Ritter, who was born in 1981; former N.Y Giants defensive back Antrel Rolle, who was born in 1982; and “The Chronicles of Narnia” star Anna Popplewell, who was born in 1988.

Benjamin Bratt
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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HARBORING A GRUDGE: On this day in 1773, the Sons of Liberty protested a new tax by boarding three British ships and dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

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THAT’S A FACT, JACK: “Dragnet” premiered on this day in 1951. The famous crime show stressed authenticity and its episodes were supposedly based on real cases. Jack Webb starred as the stoic Sgt. Joe Friday, who was determined to get “just the facts.” The show is also known for its theme music and a narrative epilogue describing the fate of the bad guys.

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

Quotable:

“Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”

— novelist Jane Austen, who was born on this day in 1775