January 8: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 8, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1904, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON ― When the Senate met today, Mr. Scott (W. Va.) offered a joint resolution providing for an investigation of the Darien canal route. He made a brief speech in support of a proposition for a sea level canal, stating that such a waterway would be only thirty miles in length. The route never had been carefully investigated by engineers, but he felt sure it was wholly practicable. He said that the tunnel a sea level canal would require was not impossible in this day of electricity and invention. Mr. Bacon interrupted to ask where the proposed canal was to be located, ‘in view of recent geographical changes in South America.’ ‘It is in the State of Panama,’ remarked Mr. Stewart, ‘about 150 miles from Colombia.’ Mr. Scott said he wanted a canal, and the best one. He asked that the committee on interoceanic canals make an early report. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations today continued consideration of the Panama Canal treaty, reaching the fifteenth article, in a general discussion of the question. The amendments suggested by the Democrats provoked extended comment from Senators Morgan and Bacon. It became apparent in the course of the session that suggestions for alteration of the treaty would not be confined to the Democratic members of the committee. A purpose of strengthening the convention was shown by a number of Republicans. The effect of the discussion was to delay final action on the treaty without materially advancing the argument.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, JAN. 7 ― A determined effort to lay the foundation for a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada was initiated today when Secretary Knox welcomed at the State Department the representatives of the Canadian government. Mr. Knox explained to the Canadian envoys the powers conferred upon the representatives of the Department of States and the purposes of the United States Government in entering into the negotiations. … Indications are that the negotiations will consume at least a week’s time. There is an enormous quantity of detail to be considered, and the tariff schedules of both countries will be subjected to most careful study in the light of elaborate figures showing the extent of the exports and imports and the capital invested in various lines of industry likely to be affected by any changes in the custom duties.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY ― Because of the death of Col. Roosevelt, the New York Legislature will transact virtually no business this week. It will reconvene tonight, after having been in recess since January 1, and the payment of tributes to the former President’s memory will occupy the entire session. Adjournment tonight will be taken as a memorial to the Colonel, until tomorrow, when committee assignments will be announced. Friday, as usual, will be a legislative day on which no business will be transacted. Sessions are not held Saturdays.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle said, “It would be interesting to know just how much it costs America’s 22,480,000 car owners to find parking for their automobiles. Undoubtedly the figures would be startling. Many thousands of gallons of gasoline are wasted daily, almost, while the motorist makes his futile trek around this block and that looking vainly for a niche in which he can place his property while he goes about his profession, business, trade or shopping excursion. In addition to the time wasted and the gasoline consumed in this process, there are the thousands of miles put on the car’s speedometer in the form of those two items known as ‘wear and tear.’ Perhaps it is not greatly expensive to the individual because cars will stand a great deal of wear and tear these days, but multiplying the individual experience by 22,480,000 probably would be productive of a total that would interest even a millionaire. The responsibility for this predicament usually is placed upon those ancestors of the 1928 motorist who built the narrow streets that served very well for the horse and carriage era but very poorly for the motor age. Such a verdict undoubtedly is just. The narrow street is the chief cause of congestion and the parking problem. Everyone admits this fact. There are many, however, who are not inclined to let the modern motorist go entirely without blame. As cordially as he loathes the problem, he is held partly responsible for it. For, say the accusers, if the motorist parked correctly he could save himself and all his fellow street users a large measure of the annoyance they feel when out on a parking space exploration.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “PLYMOUTH, VT., JAN 7 (AP) ― Calvin Coolidge rested tonight among his native hills. In the quiet country graveyard beside the road that winds past the old homestead of his boyhood, his body was lowered to its last sleep as the shadows of a Wintry day crept down the mountain sides. A nation had paid its tribute in simple funeral services in the modest church in Northampton, the city where he began his career as mayor years ago and to which he retired when he stepped down from the highest office in the land less than four years ago. President Hoover, to whom he turned over the reins of government, and Mrs. Hoover, men high in world affairs, the friends and neighbors with whom he walked and talked in his daily affairs joined in sorrowful tribute at the church. Then, along highways lined by men and women, standing silently and reverently, their heads bowed, he was carried back to the tiny village among the mountains where the neighbors of other days had gathered to pay their final respects.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “A member of the staff of the Brooklyn Public Library with the United States Army has set up the first library in Greenland, a recent letter revealed. Pvt. Harold E. Fowler passed the censor with news that the camp of the 1st Aircraft Warning Company, to which he belongs, had been established ‘in a fjord about 30 or 40 miles from the ocean, not far from the Artic Circle.’ The camp is close to ‘a glacier which drips cold water down our backs 365 days of the year,’ he added. Several weeks ago, Mr. Fowler wrote, the camp received a shipment of 1,000 books from the Morale Department in Washington. ‘Sitting on an orange crate and typing with mittens on,’ he made out cards for ‘a new system of cataloguing which would make a good librarian shudder but which will serve the purpose here quite well.’ The books are being catalogued by Fowler alone and are being shelved the same way. There will be no overdue charges but the soldiers will be asked to return each book in seven days. Mr. Fowler was a librarian in Ingersoll Memorial, central building of the Brooklyn Public Library, when he was inducted a year ago. Two other members of the library’s professional staff and several of its clerical staff are also in the service.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Even though Governor Dewey strongly hinted in his legislative message that city leaders should raise the transit fare to cover operating deficits, other State officials now say Dewey has other ideas. The Gov. would like to form an overall authority, encompassing the money-making toll bridges and tunnels, to take the subways out of the red.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “History Repeating” singer Shirley Bassey, who was born in 1937; game show host Bob Eubanks, who was born in 1938; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Robby Krieger (The Doors), who was born in 1946; Loverboy singer Mike Reno, who was born in 1955; singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, who was born in 1964; “Homicide: Life on the Street” star Michelle Forbes, who was born in 1965; former N.Y. Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, who was born in 1971; former N.Y. Mets outfielder Mike Cameron, who was born in 1973; “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Amber Benson, who was born in 1977; “Transparent” star Gaby Hoffmann, who was born in 1982; former N.Y. Liberty center Stefanie Dolson, who was born in 1992; and singer and actress Noah Cyrus, who was born in 2000.

Shirley Bassey
Valery Hache, pool via AP

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A BRIEF HISTORY: World-renowned physicist and author Stephen Hawking was born on this day in 1942. Hawking came to prominence in the early 1970s through his groundbreaking work on black holes, in which he suggested that their properties must be governed by the laws of both quantum theory and general relativity (that is, by the physics of very small and very massive objects). His books included the bestselling “A Brief History of Time” (1988). He died in 2018 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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RENAISSANCE MAN: David Bowie was born in London on this day in 1947. A relentless creative who explored rock, folk, electronic music, film and visual art in a career that spanned five decades, Bowie defined pop stardom as a chameleonic innovator. From his hit debut, 1969’s “Space Oddity,” through his outsized Ziggy Stardust persona of 1972, and onward to numerous experiments in spectacle and showmanship, Bowie’s work shape-shifted freely and greatly influenced the next generation. He died in 2016.

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

Quotable:

“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.”

— Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Bowie, who was born on this day in 1947