January 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 2, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1906, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “The fate of [S. A.] Andree is not a deterrent to balloon enterprise in the Arctics. Walter Wellman, who has been twice in the far north, intends to make another try for the pole; but instead of bumping over the ice pack, which is commonly so broken and hummocked that a couple of miles a day is fair progress over a part of it, he believes that he can take the flight from Spitzbergen to the spot where there is 90 degrees of latitude, no longitude and no direction but south, in an air ship such as Santos-Dumont and others have used in unconvincing flights of a few miles hereabout. To go north from Spitzbergen, pass over the pole, and land at one of the northern settlements in Greenland means a journey through the air of 1,300 miles, and not many balloons have been constructed that could cover half that distance, even with the wind in their favor. The weight of the frosts that form on the gas bags in the Arctics, after inflation, is another deterrent to success, and so is the difficulty of carrying sufficient stores and cooking food. What suggests itself as a more reasonable proposition than that of undertaking the long flight to the pole, whence a return would be problematic, is the making of observations from a captive balloon to be lifted from various bases, if necessary, but affording an offlook of immense area in which islands should be visible in spite of fogs that often hang above the floes. Merely to stand upon the pole is an enterprise that calls for enthusiasm. It is the mapping of the circumpolar area, the dissipation of the geographical mystery, that signifies, and if better charts could be made from a height than have been made from sledges and ships, the balloon might reasonably be added to the outfit of the Arctic explorer.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON ― President Taft today began a series of talks with Senators about his proposed executive order establishing a civil government for the Panama Canal Zone with Colonel George W. Goethals, the canal builder, at its head. The President asked several Senators to advise him of the truth of reports that Democrats would oppose the nomination of the colonel. Mr. Taft is anxious to see the civil government authorized under the Panama Canal act established before he leaves office March 4, to allow the new governor to readjust finances before Mr. Wilson enters the White House. The President, his friends say emphatically, is unwilling to become involved in a political wrangle over the canal. The Senate, however, must confirm the nomination of a civil governor. Mr. Taft has been disappointed by reports that the nomination of Colonel Goethals would be opposed. He told callers today that he believed the American people would like to see Colonel Goethals made governor. Those who talked with the President today were of the opinion that should it be shown that there will be serious opposition to Colonel Goethals, his nomination probably would not be sent in. If formidable opposition does not appear, his nomination probably will be sent to the Senate February 1, and an executive order establishing the new civil regime will be issued at the same time. Some of the colonel’s friends think that should the colonel’s nomination encounter opposition he might resign from the work.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “FLEMINGTON, N.J. ― The Bruno Richard Hauptmann murder trial got off to a swift start this morning in a jammed, steaming courtroom in this quaint Hunterdon Courthouse that has guided the destinies of this quiet little village since it was erected 107 years ago. Seven jurors ― three housewives, a farmer, a machinist, an insurance man and a laborer ― had been selected for the most dramatic trial in criminal annals when the forenoon session adjourned. Motionless and staring rigidly ahead, Col. Charles A. Lindbergh viewed the proceedings seated within 10 feet of the manacled and trembling prisoner charged with the kidnaping and murder of his infant son nearly three years ago. Both fathers wore gray suits, white shirts and blue ties. They exchanged neither glance nor word, but the drama of the situation charged the 700 or more that elbowed into the trial room built to accommodate 300. The aviator was seated behind the State’s table with Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, head of the State police, at his elbow.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., son of the President, was in an auto crash New Year’s morning at nearby Wayne but escaped injury, it was learned today. The driver of the other car, Edward Newman, 24, of Radnor, was cut and bruised. Arraigned last night before Justice of the Peace Howard C. Harbison at Wayne, the President’s son was released on his own recognizance for further hearing Jan. 15. He explained that he had been blinded by the snow and tried to stop when he saw Newman’s car, parked near a railroad station. He said his own car skidded when he tried to stop. The accident occurred at 1 a.m. yesterday. Young Roosevelt, who is a sophomore at Harvard, had been the holiday guest of J. Drexel Paul, in suburban Radnor, and was on his way to a dance in a Philadelphia hotel, he said. … Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. has a rather imposing list of automobile violations chalked up against him. In April, 1934, he was fined $20 [in Boston] for having out-of-State plates on an automobile. On March 24, 1934, his car struck and injured Mrs. Daniel P. O’Leary, 60, in Boston. He has been arrested four times for speeding.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “A strike of three small groups of dockworkers swept over the Brooklyn waterfront today [and] swiftly engulfed most of it. Detectives of the Riverfront Squad reported that ‘several thousand’ longshoremen had stayed off piers servicing some 100 ships. And by midafternoon they expected that 10,000 men would be out. Union delegates, in a similar vein, said the entire borough waterfront would be immobilized. The original strikers ― fewer than 500 weighers, scalemen and samplers, all members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, A.F.L., in the city ― struck for 42 cents an hour increased pay and welfare benefits. As they placed pickets at piers, their fellow union members stayed away in large droves. The Brooklyn waterfront was only partly closed this morning as pickets in some cases failed to arrive in time to head off the morning shape-up. The men who thus went to work were permitted to continue on the job until the noon lunch hour, but all indicated they would not return in the afternoon.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include photographer David Bailey, who was born in 1938; zoologist Jack Hanna, who was born in 1947; former NFL running back Calvin Hill, who was born in 1947; “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Gabrielle Carteris, who was born in 1961; former N.Y. Mets and Yankees pitcher David Cone, who was born in 1963; Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez, who was born in 1963; “Relic Hunter” star Tia Carrere, who was born in 1967; model Christy Turlington, who was born in 1969; “All-American” star Taye Diggs, who was born in 1971; “Idiocracy” star Dax Shepard, who was born in 1975; “Blue Crush” star Kate Bosworth, who was born in 1983; singer-songwriter and rapper Bryson Tiller, who was born in 1993; and San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who was born in 1999.