Brooklyn Today for April 12
Good morning. Today is the 192nd day of the year. On this day in 1901, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, workers who were busy stringing cables on the “new East River Bridge,” which eventually became known as the Manhattan Bridge, suddenly went on strike. According to the Eagle, the workmen were ordered to strike by a delegate from their union, and most did not know the reason for the strike. The newspaper speculated that the action might have been a “sympathy strike” stemming from a grievance against the Roebling and Sons firm, which was building the bridge, regarding another building that Roebling was constructing.
Well-known people who were born today include actor Andy Garcia, musician Herbie Hancock, comedian David Letterman (“Late Show With David Letterman”), singer-actor David Cassidy (“the Partridge Family”) and Brooklyn-born actor Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”)