February 16: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

February 16, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1889, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The Secretary of State has received from the Danish minister a copy of the regulations relating to fisheries off the Greenland coast, under which all trade with the inhabitants is forbidden, but fishing is not prohibited except within one Danish mile from the coast.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Eagle said, “An estate estimated at $6,000,000 is disposed of by the testament of Louis Bossert, who did much in his lifetime for various philanthropies, and who was a public-spirited citizen of whom Brooklyn was proud. Outside of $5,000 each for two hospitals, both in the Eastern District, and a like amount for his employees’ relief association, no public benefactions are among the bequest, and nearly all of the estate goes to the testator’s wife and family. What the legatees may do for charity is left to them. Perhaps a strong argument might be made for this theory whenever and wherever a testator feels that he can trust his family to do what he wants to have done, and does not care to leave to incorporated charities. The notable feature of the Bossert will is the provision for continuing the great business employing several hundred hands, and the continuing of the Hotel Bossert, which is a credit to the borough. Mr. Bossert wants his sons to keep up the manufacture of building trim on the present lines. He hampers them very little in most respects, but does protect from dismissal several old employees whose fidelity he has come to rely on. Pride in a business built up on personal business integrity is a wholly worthy sentiment. Louis Bossert had a right to feel such pride, and no one will be surprised that it appears as the dominant note in the instrument disposing of his large estate.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Eagle reported, “The Girl Pioneers of America, an organization formed by Miss Lina Beard of Flushing, to do for the girls what the Boy Scouts had done and is doing for the boys, is one year old this month. A year ago the movement consisted merely of a small band of five girl-loving women. There were no commissioners, no directors, no bands of girls, no groups, not even one Girl Pioneer. Today the movement is widespread and there are bands of Girl Pioneers in towns and cities both far and near, for the organization now reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and new groups are constantly applying for admission to the ranks of the G.P.A. Miss Beard, who is a sister of Daniel Carter Beard, the artist, author and promoter of the Boy Scouts movement, is delighted with the success of the new movement.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (AP) ― Women appeared at the White House breakfast table today for the first time since President Coolidge adopted the practice of inviting members of Congress for the early morning meal. Among 14 members of the House at the breakfast were Representatives Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts and Florence P. Kahn of California, Republicans, and Mary T. Norton, New Jersey, Democrat.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Eagle reported, “Special Officer Turnack of the B.M.T. brought three boys into the 68th Precinct last night and, according to the police, preferred charges against them for having slipped under the turnstile at the 45th St. station of the 4th Ave. subway. They were released on their own recognizance and ordered to appear in Children’s Court this morning.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO, DUTCH WEST INDIES (UP) ― A German submarine deep in the American defense zone east of the Panama Canal has torpedoed four oil tankers and shelled the great American-owned oil refinery on the Dutch island of Aruba, it was disclosed today. The Netherlands Indies News Agency said the shelling of Aruba marked the first land attack on any Western Hemisphere territory in World War II. The main enemy submarine attack was against the island of Aruba, where American troops were landed recently to protect one of the world’s greatest oil centers off the Venezuelan coast and about 600 miles east of the Panama Canal. Three tankers were torpedoed at Aruba, the Netherlands Indies Agency said, while a fourth was torpedoed but not sunk near Willemstad. The shelling of the Aruba refinery, owned by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, caused only slight damage, the dispatch reported.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “The Navy Cross has been awarded posthumously to Naval Lt. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., 29, eldest son of former Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, for ‘extraordinary heroism’ on a hazardous and special operational mission for which he volunteered last Aug. 12. The naval lieutenant met his death when the navy Liberator bomber which he was piloting exploded somewhere over England. Naval Lt. John F. Kennedy, 27, the former ambassador’s second son, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for ‘extremely heroic conduct’ in the Solomons on Aug. 1, 1943, when his PT boat was cut in two by a Jap destroyer. In the confusion that followed the ramming of the torpedo boat, young Kennedy twice risked his life to swim out and save two of his crewmen. He is now recuperating from injuries in Hot Springs, Ark. Another of the nine Kennedy children, Robert, 19, is a naval aviation cadet. Kathleen Kennedy, 25, married into British nobility last May and became the Dowager Marchioness of Hartington when her husband was killed in action in Normandy. She is now a Red Cross worker in London.”

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LeVar Burton
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, who was born in 1944; “The Greatest American Hero” star William Katt, who was born in 1951; “Roots” star LeVar Burton, who was born in 1957; rapper and actor Ice-T, who was born in 1958; former N.Y. Knicks player and coach Herb Williams, who was born in 1958; International Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe, who was born in 1959; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pete Willis (Def Leppard), who was born in 1960; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), who was born in 1961; “24” star Sarah Clarke, who was born in 1972; “WandaVision” star Elizabeth Olsen, who was born in 1989; and “Can’t Feel My Face” singer The Weeknd, who was born in 1990.

Elizabeth Olsen
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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PYRAMID SCHEME: British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun on this day in 1923. The discovery of the tomb sparked a renewed interest in ancient Egypt that peaked with touring exhibitions of its treasures in the 1970s.

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HAIR APPARENT: On this day in 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln stopped his train at Westfield, N.Y., on his way to Washington to thank 12-year-old Grace Bedell in person for advising him to grow a beard to gain votes.

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

Quotable:

“Chaos was the law of nature. Order was the dream of man.”

— historian Henry Adams, who was born on this day in 1838