January 13: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

January 13, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1881, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said, “General Grant’s article discouraging the Panama Canal project will hardly arrest the progress of the enterprise. If M. de Lesseps is satisfied that his scheme is the better one, and can raise the money to execute it, there is no reason why he shouldn’t do so. The commercial community would not object to half a dozen canals, and will doubtless cordially indorse any effort General Grant may make to carry out his Nicaragua plan. There is no better way to settle the relative merits of the two routes than to cut the isthmus at both points. M. de Lesseps is perfectly willing that General Grant should go ahead and build his canal, and General Grant can afford to be equally liberal toward the Frenchman.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1883, the Eagle reported, “A bill has been introduced in the Florida State Legislature to incorporate the Florida Ship Canal Company. The purpose is to connect the Atlantic with the Gulf of Mexico by a canal across the Peninsula. The capital stock is placed at $40,000,000.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1885, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON ― It is claimed by those who ought to know best that Washington will be able to accommodate all the guests who come to witness the inauguration of President Cleveland. Colonel Wright, the chairman of the Committee on Public Comfort, is satisfied that the city can lodge and board all who may come, and says that the committee has received a proposition from one caterer to feed 5,000 people, while others have stated their ability to do as well. It is thought that the hotels can feed three times more people than they can give sleeping accommodations to. In most instances those who have registered rooms at the office of the committee have offered to rent at fair prices. One instance is an exception and that is a lady with a parlor near the corner of F and Thirteenth street, northwest, for which she asks the moderate sum of $30 per day. A lady, who is 75 years of age, danced with Andrew Jackson when he was President and attended the last Democratic inauguration ball, wants to be present at the approaching one. She has registered a room for rent, and states that she does so for the purpose of attending the ball, and she will accommodate five gentlemen during the ceremonies in order to secure sufficient to obtain a ticket.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1887, the Eagle reported, “In the International Curling Bonspiel between the United States and Canada, contested in Toronto yesterday, the Canadians led their visitors 272 points at the close of the evening’s play, the totals for 29 rinks standing at 781 to 509 points.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Eagle reported, “Dashing through a forest fire with flames leaping up on each side of a narrow road was a thrilling episode in a 10-day trip which Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Crump of Stockton, Cal., recently completed in their Haynes ‘Light Twelve.’ The fire was raging in Lake County and the motorists failed to comprehend its seriousness until they were in the midst of it. Then they found their road too narrow for turning and that their best alternative was to speed ahead. It was a precarious bit of travel with its clouds of smoke and falling ashes and embers, but the danger zone was cleared without accident.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “Negotiations to prevent a tugboat strike at midnight tonight ‘have broken down,’ a spokesman for the employer group announced today. The breakdown came over the union’s demand for ‘a new principle of overtime payment.’ Mayor O’Dwyer was informed that the negotiations had been ‘terminated.’ The tugboat strike, scheduled to start at 12:01 a.m. today, was postponed for 24 hours and negotiators were to continue last-ditch talks in an effort to reach an agreement ahead of the new deadline. A walkout of the 3,500 tug workers, members of the A.F.L. Longshoremen’s Association’s Marine Division, would cut off nearly all fuel for the 12,000,000 residents of the Metropolitan area.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Duke Donaldson, famous race-car driver and titleholder, and Herb Sheldon, daytime broadcast star, have been signed to handle the race descriptions and the color broadcast descriptions, respectively, starting tomorrow night, Jan. 14, when the televising of the weekly stock car derby starts from Kingsbridge Armory, 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. via WNBT. Donaldson’s background in the race-car field stems from his own record-breaking and daredevil experiences in the sport and the winning of many speed titles here and abroad.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Col. Bernt Balchen of the U.S. Air Force, noted Arctic explorer who recently completed the development of a new Polar air base at Thule, Greenland, will be honored by members of his Masonic Lodge, Norsemen 878 at the Bay Ridge Masonic Temple, 257 Bay Ridge Ave., Thursday at 8 p.m. … The only other person except the Marquis de Lafayette to be made a U.S. citizen by act of Congress, Col. Balchen is currently displaying his paintings of the Far North at the Grand Central Art Galleries, Manhattan. Many of the paintings were sketched in from the cockpit of a plane as he carried out his duties in the Air Force.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Catcher Clarence (Choo Choo) Coleman and four of the club’s more promising young players have returned signed contracts for the 1963 season, the New York Mets announced yesterday. The signings were the first announced by the Mets. Coleman, a lefthanded batter, hit .250 with six home runs last year. With the retirement of Richie Ashburn and the acquisition of Norm Sherry from the Dodgers, there has been speculation manager Casey Stengel would give Coleman a trial in the outfield. Others signed were: outfielder Dick Smith, obtained from the Dodger farm system, who led the Florida Instructional League in home runs this winter with 7; first baseman Ed Kranepool, the Mets’ highest-priced bonus player, who hit .351 at Auburn; bonus pitcher Larry Bearnarth, who had a 2-13 record at Syracuse; and southpaw pitcher John Bukowski, who was drafted from the Houston organization.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle said, “We like Phil Foster’s description of the traffic conditions on Flatbush Avenue: ‘Traffic was so bad I drove all the way in neutral!’”

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Trevor Rabin (Yes), who was born in 1954; “Bright Lights, Big City” author Jay McInerney, who was born in 1955; World Golf Hall of Famer Mark O’Meara, who was born in 1957; “Seinfeld” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was born in 1961; “Kindergarten Cop” star Penelope Ann Miller, who was born in 1964; “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey, who was born in 1966; “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes, who was born in 1970; “Baywatch” star Nicole Eggert, who was born in 1972; entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who was born in 1975; “Carnival Row” star Orlando Bloom, who was born in 1977; former N.Y. Jets center Nick Mangold, who was born in 1984; “The Hunger Games” star Liam Hemsworth, who was born in 1990; and “Stranger Things” star Natalia Dyer, who was born in 1995.

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WAVES OF THE FUTURE: Radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee De Forest arranged the world’s first public radio broadcast on this day in 1910. He succeeded in broadcasting the voice of Enrico Caruso and other stars of the Metropolitan Opera to several receiving stations in New York City, where listeners with earphones marveled at wireless music from the air.

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A MOB HIT: “The Sopranos” premiered on HBO on this day in 1999. The thinking viewer’s mob drama starred James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, whose panic attacks drove him to seek out a psychiatrist. TV Guide called it one of the greatest shows of all time. The final episode aired June 10, 2007.

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

Quotable:

“Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”

— TV producer Shonda Rhimes, who was born on this day in 1970