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April 16, ‘1887 Letter to the Editor’

April 16, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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TONIGHT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM’S Brooklyn Artists Ball, an annual fundraising gala, will honor art patrons David and Jane Walentas, and artists Ai Weiwei, Jenny Holzer and Kehinde Wiley. Guests will dine at multisensory table environments created by the occasion by leading Brooklyn artists. … THE BROOKLYN WOMEN’S Business Mentoring Initiative, which connected aspiring entrepreneurs with experienced Atlantic Avenue-based business owners, is holding a graduation ceremony today at 11 a.m. at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. … THE 84TH PRECINCT community council is meeting today at 7 p.m. at St. James Cathedral Pavilion to bring people up to date on new traffic changes based around the new Vision Zero plan.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN today include author Kingsley Amis, Hall of Fame basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actress Ellen Barkin and comedian Martin Lawrence.

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CHARLIE CHAPLAN WAS also born today, in 1889. He suffered through extreme poverty as a child but escaped the workhouses as a touring music hall dancer and comic. He joined Mack Sennett’s Keystone film company and with Keystone and on his own created funny and poignant film masterpieces beginning in 1914—many featuring his “Little Tramp.” The derby-hatted Little Tramp—a bit of a dreamer and a bit of a scamp—was a worldwide sensation. Chaplin was knighted in 1975 and died in 1977 in Switzerland.

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HENRY MANCINI WAS also born today, in Cleveland in 1924. He made his mark in Hollywood composing film scores and songs. He won 20 Grammy Awards and four Oscars (one for the song “Moon River” and the score for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”). He died in 1994 in Beverly Hills.

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IT IS NATIONAL Stress Awareness Day, a time to focus public awareness on one of the leading health problems in the world today. Health-related organizations throughout the country are encouraged to sponsor stress education programs and events.

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THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS happened today in 2007. In the worst shooting in U.S. history, a disturbed college student shot and killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech University campus.

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ON THIS DAY in 1887, the Brooklyn Eagle published this letter to the editor: “The inhabitants of one of the best blocks on Union [S]treet recently for two days more or less, had before their eyes the disgusting spectacle of a dead horse. Small boys have shown their meanest instinct in poking at the carcass and even riding upon it, and through the night wagons have probably driven over it. If policemen give proper notice and with the resources of telephone and telegraph, why cannot all dead animals be removed within two hours of their demise?” The letter was signed “Householder” and dated December 14, 1887. … THE EAGLE ALSO published an announcement of the second championship polo match on the season, which was set to take place the next day at the Palace Rink at 9 p.m., between the polo teams of Jersey City and Brooklyn. “Polo” referred to ice polo, a popular game at the time, which was similar to the game of ice hockey but played with a ball rather than a puck. The rink was located at Atlantic Avenue and Bedford Avenue, not too far from Barclays Center.


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