April 4: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 4, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1891, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Newfoundland proposes to revenge herself on the home government by giving Americans free fishing bait and making Canadians pay for it.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1905, the Eagle reported, “The high salaried officers and employees of the Panama Canal Company are in a state of terror. They fear that they will all lose their jobs in the coming reorganization of the office. Even if they are not summarily dismissed they dread the possibility of an order that will take them from the comfortable offices in Washington and send them to the fever-laden Isthmus.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1908, the Eagle reported, “Just before midnight last night the operator at the Newtown Central got a call from 243-R, which is the number of J. J. McAlleer, a butcher at Jackson avenue and Central street, Corona. A call from that number at that hour was unusual, and the operator listened with some interest to ascertain what was wanted. She got no answer at first, and then heard a low, barely audible moan. She called, ‘Hello,’ a dozen times, but got no answer. She could, however, hear a sound as of a slight scuffle, but no word came over the wire. Then she heard the moaning sound again and decided to notify the police. She did so, and Captain Gardener sent four of his men to the market. They found the place closed and the blinds drawn. One of the officers listened closely and he also heard moans inside the store. They then decided to break open the door, expecting to find a tragedy of some sort had been committed. As they entered the place they found only a fox terrier dog. He was whimpering at his failure to catch the market cat he had been chasing. In the pursuit he had knocked over the telephone receiver from its hook, thus calling up Central, and she had heard him whining as he scampered about after the cat.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Eagle said, “The City of New York is to have a new Charter. The present Charter which was adopted in 1901 is considered by nearly all students of civics to be complex, contradictory in many respects and inadequate, in parts, to carry out the work of the municipality along the lines which the increased and changing demands of the metropolis warrant. The Charter under which the affairs of the city are now conducted is a hybrid. It is a compromise between the commission form of government and the federal plan. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment is a lame imitation of the commission, while the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor represent in a one-sided manner the federal plan. And between the two forms, with the added interference of the State Legislature, now possible under the present State Constitution, there are numerous handicaps to good city government. It is not probable that the new city Charter will be granted until, at least, 1917. The State Constitutional Convention which will meet in Albany this month will determine the basis on which this Charter will be formed. Whether this new Constitution will continue the power of the State Legislature to exercise wide authority over the City of New York or whether it will extend the autonomy of the city is, to a certain degree, only conjectural at this time, but the general opinion of those who have given thought to the subject is that the authority of the city, in many respects, will be independent of State control.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “Headed by the premiere showing of Samuel Goldwyn’s ‘The Adventures of Marco Polo,’ starring Gary Cooper, the Radio City Music Hall’s Easter show will open on Thursday, ushering in the holiday season with a gala three-part program. The film, a romantic spectacle based on the fabled life of the 13th Century adventurer, will share the attention of the Music Hall’s holiday audience with ‘The Glory of Easter,’ the famous ‘Kamennoi Ostrow’ cathedral scene which has become an annual tradition at the playhouse, and ‘Mickey’s Circus,’ a footlight fantasy inspired by the beloved Walt Disney animated cartoon creations in which all of his famous characters will be brought to life.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s forsythia and Washington’s cherry blossoms were cited as outstanding examples of ‘Community Planting for Civic Beauty’ at a conference of 20 New York, New Jersey and Connecticut organizations yesterday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The value of tree planting and floral displays was stressed by speakers who included Mrs. Edward C. Blum, patroness of Brooklyn’s forsythia projects, and Dr. John C. Wister, editor of Plant and Garden.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “CAPE CANAVERAL (UPI) ― A 410-pound satellite made of stainless steel soared around earth and a 3,300-pound payload sped toward the moon yesterday in man’s two latest space ventures. The satellite bore the stamp ‘Made in U.S.A.’ It was launched into orbit Tuesday night abord a 90-foot Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral. The moonlet may compile the most detailed information yet available on the tenuous atmosphere that hangs in space as much as 600 miles above earth. The moon probe is a Russian product ― Lunik 4, which is expected to arrive in the vicinity of the moon sometime Saturday. The much smaller U.S. satellite was the simpler of the two shots ― but it may provide returns that will be useful immediately in both manned and unmanned exploration of space. Scientists hope the moonlet will outline a detailed picture of the extent of air particles that exist hundreds of miles into space. Generally, it is believed that earth’s atmosphere ends about 20 miles up. Actually, atoms of helium, hydrogen and nitrogen are trapped in earth’s gravitational pull deep into space. The particles may be several feet apart, but they are still numerous enough to exert a ‘drag’ that can change the orbits or shorten the lives of satellites. The new satellite, dubbed Explorer 17, was built to detect these particles and measure their density.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “The citrus fans certainly have sweetened on our Mets. Only recently, a St. Petersburg crowd of over 2,100 went berserk as our Grapefruit League champions rallied for five runs in the eighth inning to nip the Cardinals. Seems the fans down around St. Pete are the middle-age and up variety and just can’t get enough of Casey Stengel and his spring training renegades. Chances are, the Mets’ record down South will mean absolutely nothing when the opposition starts playing for real, but the impressive play of our heroes certainly can’t be ignored. The Mets have been allowing the opposition only three outs an inning so far and if that continues during the season, watch out. The one ominous note of last year’s disastrous first year was that the Mets absorbed 120 losses without developing any fresh baseball talent except for Al Jackson. The infant Mets looked like the tired old Giants of 1957 when they finished up the season and that’s not the way to build dynasties. George Weiss knew it and this year the team may sacrifice the drawing power of veteran stars and concentrate on building a team of the future. The Mets have the material to try, anyway.”

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Kelly Price
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Robert Downey, Jr.
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include record producer Clive Davis, who was born in Brooklyn in 1932; World Golf Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner, who was born in 1939; “Poltergeist” star Craig T. Nelson, who was born in 1944; Chicago Hope” star Christine Lahti, who was born in 1950; “Picket Fences” creator David E. Kelley, who was born in 1956; film and voice actor Phil Morris, who was born in 1959; “Captain America” star Hugo Weaving, who was born in 1960; “Arrested Development” star David Cross, who was born in 1964; “Iron Man” star Robert Downey, Jr., who was born in 1965; “The Facts of Life” star Nancy McKeon, who was born in 1966; “Saving Private Ryan” star Barry Pepper, who was born in 1970; “Friend of Mine” singer Kelly Price, who was born in 1973; and “American Pie” star Natasha Lyonne, who was born in 1979.

Nancy McKeon
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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THE FAB FIVE: The Beatles took over the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this day in 1964. “Can’t Buy Me Love” was number one, followed by “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please, Please Me.”

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SHATTERED DREAM: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on this day in 1968. King was shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. He was in the city to support striking sanitation workers. Assassin James Earl Ray died in prison in 1998 while serving a 99-year sentence for the crime.

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

Quotable:

“There are only two kinds of managers: winning managers and ex-managers.”

— Baseball Hall of Famer Gil Hodges, who was born on this day in 1924