
January 17: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

ON THIS DAY IN 1856, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “While we are waiting for Dr. [Elisha Kent] Kane’s official report of his latest expedition to the Artic Ocean, there are some scientific results, the publication of which we may be permitted to anticipate. The first of these is the condition of animal and vegetable life in a high northern latitude. Dr. Kane’s party succeeded in reaching latitude 80 degrees, a higher northern point upon the coast of Greenland than had yet been attained by any previous navigator. He found inhabiting this inhospitable region the Esquimaux Indian, the reindeer and many varieties of the floral world, principally of the Alpine species. The latter were numerous, diminutive. How far north the human race and animals exist is not known, but Dr. Kane’s observations clearly establish the fact that the extreme cold of latitude 80 degrees is not the limit to their northern migration.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1886, the Eagle reported, “HALIFAX, N.S., JAN. 16 ― The Municipal Council of Halifax County today unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Dominion Government to take such steps as may lead to negotiations with the Government of the United States for a reciprocity treaty between the two countries, embracing such trade arrangements as may be for the mutual advantage of each country, including the fishing interests, which are of the greatest importance to a large portion of the Canadian people. Failing to secure a satisfactory treaty with the United States, the Dominion Government is further requested to place a sufficient number of armed vessels along the Canadian coasts to protect Canadian fishermen from the encroachments of American fishermen.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1893, the Eagle reported, “FREMONT, O. ― The condition of ex-President [Rutherford B.] Hayes this morning at 10 o’clock is the same as last night. Dr. S. F. Hilbish, the attending physician, spent all of the night at the bedside of the stricken man and left for a short time this morning. The Hayes mansion is kept in complete quietness this morning and every possible attention is being received by the ex-President. Rutherford P. Hayes, son of the ex-President, was seen this morning by a reporter and stated that the condition of his father was about the same as last night.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1925, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY, N.Y. ― Careless smokers, hunters, fishermen and campers caused 59 percent of the forest fires in New York State last year, J. Raymond Simmons, secretary-forester of the New York State Forestry Association, said here yesterday. He advocated closing the forests to people of the State until they are ‘educated properly to use them’ and suggested municipal forests as a solution to the reforestation problem.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) ― The United States and Mexico, it was learned today, will open formal negotiations immediately after President Roosevelt’s inauguration next week, with the objectives a stronger bond of ‘good neighbor’ friendship and close collaboration in inter-American defense plans. The forthcoming negotiations, it was learned, will be between Francisco Castillo Najera, the Mexican Ambassador, and Sumner Welles, Undersecretary of State. Informed sources said that major topics of interest were proposals for a mutual agreement on hemisphere defense, for construction by Mexico of new or enlarged naval bases in Magdalena Bay (lower California) and at Acapulco, on the west coast, for the protection of the Panama Canal, and for increase and modernization of the Mexican army, navy and air force, with assistance from the United States.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) ― The British Broadcasting Corporation quoted the Soviet-sponsored Lublin radio today as reporting that Russian and Polish forces had captured Warsaw, capital of Poland. The B.B.C. report of the fall of Warsaw lacked immediate confirmation. Earlier the Soviet high command had announced the flanking of the city on the south. The nearest confirmed Red Army positions across the Vistula below Warsaw were about 20 miles from the capital. Russian and Polish troops had been drawn up across the Vistula from Warsaw in the Praga suburb since last Fall. Radio Polski at Lublin, seat of the self-styled Provisional Government of Poland, was quoted by B.B.C. as broadcasting in Polish: ‘Attention! Attention! Warsaw is captured. Formations of the Red Army and the Polish Army occupied Warsaw, capital of the Polish Republic.’ The broadcast was repeated three times and followed by the Polish national anthem.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (UP) ― President-elect Eisenhower faced his first blowup with Congress today as some Senators held that Charles E. Wilson will violate the law if he retains his General Motors stocks while Defense Secretary. The row apparently jeopardized the chances of Wilson and his top defense aides getting Senate confirmation by inauguration day Tuesday, as Eisenhower has requested. Senate Armed Services Committee members postponed action until Monday to receive additional legal advice and to permit Republican leaders to consult with Eisenhower headquarters in New York. What started out as a wrangle involving a few Democrats was turning into a major fight, with some Republicans joining in. It was learned that Senator James H. Duff (Pa.), one of the earliest Eisenhower backers, sided with Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd (Va.) in holding that no man in Government, Wilson included, should be doing business with any firm in which he has a financial interest. What worried Senators was Wilson’s ‘no, I will not’ answer when asked if he would disqualify himself in passing on defense contracts for the General Motors Corporation, the company of which he was president and in which he holds $2,500,000 in stock. Complicating the muddle is the fact that one of Wilson’s first jobs if confirmed will be to pass on GM’s request for a 6 to 12 percent hike in profit margin on some defense contracts.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported “CHICAGO (UPI) — The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said Wednesday that Negroes are gratified to see churches with white memberships taking a more active role in the fight against segregation. The pioneer leader of non-violent resistance to segregation said a hard-hitting campaign for racial justice by religious bodies that heretofore have been ‘apathetic’ will help prevent Negroes from drifting into movements such as the Black Muslims. Dr. King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, talked to reporters about the importance of the National Conference on Religion and Race in progress here.”
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Andrew Harnik/AP

Kathy Williens/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Mick Taylor (the Rolling Stones), who was born in 1949; singer-songwriter Steve Earle, who was born in 1955; “Family Feud” host Steve Harvey, who was born in 1957; Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs, who was born in 1959; former N.Y. Yankees DH Chili Davis, who was born in 1960; “42” director Brian Helgeland, who was born in 1961; “The Mask” star Jim Carrey, who was born in 1962; “The Perfect Storm” author Sebastian Junger, who was born in 1962; former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was born in 1964; “Lost” star Naveen Andrews, who was born in 1969; singer-songwriter Kid Rock, who was born in 1971; “Bull” star Freddy Rodriguez, who was born in 1975; Basketball Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, who was born in 1982; and “The Last Jedi” star Kelly Marie Tran, who was born in 1989.

Al Wagner/Invision/AP
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RENAISSANCE MAN: Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on this day in 1706. The “elder statesman of the American Revolution” was the oldest signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He was also a scientist, diplomat, author, printer, publisher, philosopher and philanthropist. He died in Philadelphia in 1790.
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THE FIGHTER: Muhammad Ali was born in Kentucky on this day in 1942. Known as “The Greatest,” he won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics and won the heavyweight title three times (1964, 1974 and 1978). Born Cassius Clay, he dropped his “slave name” when he converted to Islam in 1964. When he refused to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, he was arrested and stripped of his title. The Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971. Ali battled Parkinson’s disease for 30 years before his death in 2016.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“Here in America, we don’t let our differences tear us apart.”
— former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was born on this day in 1964
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