January 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 5, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Hoover was said by friends today to have been ‘terribly shocked’ when the news of the death of Calvin Coolidge was given to him at the luncheon table. He prepared to draft a message to Congress notifying it formally of the death of the former President. The word reached the President from one of his secretaries, who had been informed but a moment before by the Association Press. The shock immediately extended to both branches of Congress. The Senate adjourned. Knots of legislators gathered on the floors of the chambers and in corridors discussing the death. One of the first to comment was Speaker Garner, who told newspapermen, ‘I was very fond of Mr. Coolidge personally and knew him very well. He had many characteristics of an outstanding American.’ Vice President Curtis told reporters, ‘I was greatly shocked at the news of the death of former President Coolidge. His passing will be mourned by the peoples of the world. He was a strong man and had the confidence of the people.’ Senator McNary of Oregon said, ‘It is a tragic and national loss.’ Senate adjournment came within just a minute after Senator Carter Glass (D., Va.), who had the floor, announced to the members that he had just been advised of the death of Mr. Coolidge and that he thought the Senate should cease its labors to honor him.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1935, the Eagle reported, “The arena of action in the Hauptmann murder trial shifted today to Brooklyn, where Edward J. Reilly, chief of defense counsel, took advantage of the weekend recess in proceedings at Flemington, N.J., and called a conference of handwriting experts in his office at 26 Court St. to examine the ransom notes which were sent to Col. Charles A. Lindbergh. Mr. Reilly said that a number of experts, including one from Germany who is familiar with Teutonic peculiarities of handwriting, are prepared to testify that Bruno Richard Hauptmann did not write the letters which resulted in the payment of $50,000 ransom in a Bronx cemetery two months after the kidnaping of the Lindbergh baby. Reilly already has asserted that the kidnaping was plotted and carried out within the Lindbergh home by five distinct persons, no one of which was Hauptmann. The lawyer indicated today that he will delve deeply into the lives of Violet Sharpe, a maid in the Morrow home at Englewood, N.J., who killed herself after she had been questioned about the kidnaping, and other servants in the Lindbergh and Morrow homes. ‘It is glaringly odd,’ said Mr. Reilly, ‘that the mysterious Violet Sharpe commits suicide; that Whately (the Lindbergh butler) gets a stomach ache and dies suddenly; that Mrs. Whately goes to England shortly after Betty Gow (the kidnaped baby’s nurse) leaves for England. All this shortly after the baby disappears.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle said, “Another new step in the progress of the borough has been taken with the letting of a $4,374,563 contract for the building of an elevated section of the Brooklyn-Queens Connecting Highway along Meeker Ave. It is expected that the superstructure will be up early in the year 1950. A good deal more is to be done before this highway is completed, providing marvels of traffic fluency in Brooklyn, making it accessible from many directions, connecting its parts effectively. But it is a step. And every step brings Brooklyn nearer to complete comfort for those who dwell herein. It is unfortunate that the housing situation makes it impossible for the work on the highway to move as quickly as it could if there were not people still living in dwellings along its line of march. But nothing can be done about that until other dwellings are ready for them. We do not create new streets for the purpose of putting people out onto them. They are built for the welfare of all. And it is nice to see that the work progresses.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “CLEVELAND (U.P.) — Vic Janowicz, Ohio State all-America back and winner of the 1950 Heisman Trophy, was dismissed from the university for academic failure, he revealed today. ‘Because I flunked two subjects last quarter, I had to be dropped from school,’ Janowicz said. ‘That’s a university rule.’ Janowicz, a unanimous choice on the nation’s major all-America teams and The United Press selection as player of the year, said he would apply for readmission to the university tomorrow.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1955, the Eagle reported, “Roberto Clemente, the Dodger farmhand drafted by the Pirates, was hitting .378 at last peek and trailing only Willie Mays in the Puerto Rican batting averages.”

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Carrie Ann Inaba
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Bradley Cooper
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall, who was born in 1931; former talk show host Charlie Rose, who was born in 1942; former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who was born in Brooklyn in 1944; Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, who was born in 1946; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Stein (Blondie), who was born in Brooklyn in 1950; “Dynasty” star Pamela Sue Martin, who was born in 1953; former CIA Director George Tenet, who was born in 1953; “Our Town” singer Iris DeMent, who was born in 1961; actress and model Suzy Amis Cameron, who was born in 1962; “Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who was born in 1968; “American Sniper” star Bradley Cooper, who was born in 1975; former NFL running back Warrick Dunn, who was born in 1975; “Mad Men” star January Jones, who was born in 1978; and model and actress Suki Waterhouse, who was born in 1992.

Robert Duvall
Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP

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UP WHERE WE BELONG: Jeannette Ridlon Piccard was born on this day in 1895. The first woman to qualify as a free-balloon pilot, she set a record in 1934 when she ascended more than 57,000 feet into the stratosphere with her husband, Jean Felix Piccard. She died in 1981.

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LET’S DANCE: Alvin Ailey was born on this day in 1931. The Texas native began his noted career as a choreographer after a successful stint as a dancer. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, drawing from classical ballet, jazz, Afro-Caribbean and modern dance idioms to create the 79 ballets of the company’s repertoire. He and his work played a central part in establishing a role for black people in the world of modern dance. He died in 1989.

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

Quotable:

“The creative process is not controlled by a switch you can simply turn on or off; it’s with you all the time.”

— choreographer Alvin Ailey, who was born on this day in 1931