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MILESTONES: January 26, birthdays for Ellen DeGeneres, Wayne Gretzky, Eddie Van Halen

Brooklyn Today

January 26, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Ellen DeGeneres. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 26th day of the year.

On this day in 1935, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that two major villains seem to have broken down under pressure. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, appeared frightened as New Jersey State Attorney General Willentz, the prosecutor in the murder case opened new charges. Almost three years earlier, Hauptmann had allegedly kidnapped and murdered the infant son of aviator hero Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, collecting ransom money after he knew the baby was already dead. Eagle staff correspondent William Weer wrote that Hauptmann, who was previously described as “stolid, unbreakable,” seemed fearful in his cell, having returned from a grueling cross-examination in which his alibis had fallen apart.

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On this day in 1942, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), under the command of Major Gen. Russell P. Hartle, landed in Northern Ireland, which was part of the United Kingdom (Allied Forces). Technicians had been building a powerful military base in Iceland for some time. AEF’s presence meant that American units were the closest thus far to the European battle front. Previously, they had been stationed in Ireland. And United Nations forces helped the Allies shoot down a dozen planes and fired on 26 warships in the Pacific Theater.

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On Jan. 27, 1945, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that the Soviet Army had advanced into the Brandenburg province and Berlin in Germany, and toward Poland in the annexed regions. Although not mentioned specifically in the article, the Soviets that day also liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which was actually three camps — one of which was for extermination of the prisoners. Knowing that the Soviets had already advanced into and liberated Warsaw and Krakow, the German armies conducted a violent murder spree. Today, the liberation of Auschwitz is also observed as Holocaust Day of Remembrance in the U.S. and the U.K.

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On Jan. 28, 1915, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page carried at least 3 major stories, one of which affected the historic Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. News dispatches from Paris on World War I reported that more than 20,000 German soldiers were killed on French battlegrounds. Meanwhile, the Germans claimed to have captured more than a thousand French soldiers. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., President Woodrow Wilson vetoed an immigration bill that Congress had sent him, because he rejected the literacy test as a condition. He sent a special message to Congress, declaring, “The bill is a radical departure from the policy of this country.”

Also in that edition, the Eagle published a letter of arraignment from German-American physicist Hugo Munsterberg, who attacked the Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, senior minister of Plymouth Church. Hillis had preached a sermon on Dec. 27 attacking Germany, a World War II enemy, and imploring German-American citizens to call on their mother country to end atrocities. An intermediary, Frances Arming, sent a copy of Hillis’ sermon to Munsterberg. Hillis’ lengthy response to Munsterberg was also published in the Eagle.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include singer ANITA BAKER, who was born in 1958; Roman Catholic priest and civil rights leader the Rev. GEORGE HAROLD CLEMENETS, who was born in 1932; political activist ANGELA DAVIS, who was born in 1944; Gov. of Minnesota and former U.S. Sen. MARK DAYTON, who was born in 1947; comedian, actress and TV personality ELLEN DeGENERES, who was born in 1958; cartoonist and writer JULES FEIFFER, who was born in 1929; actor SCOTT GLENN, who was born in 1941; Hall of Fame hockey player WAYNE GRETZKY, who was born in 1961; soccer manager JOSE MOURINHO, who was born in 1963; singer and musician ANDREW RIDGELEY, who was born in 1963; actor DAVID STRATHAIRN, who was born in 1949; sportscaster, former baseball player and actor BOB UECKER, who was born in 1935; and guitarist EDDIE VAN HALEN, who was born in 1955.

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“PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” PREMIERED ON BROADWAY ON THIS DAY IN 1988. The multiple-award-winning musical, based on the classic Gaston Leroux novel about the tortured soul haunting the Paris Opera House, premiered in London on Oct. 9, 1986. Its music and lyrics are by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, with book by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe. It premiered on Broadway in 1988, and in January 2006 became the longest-running show in Broadway history. In 2012, it reached its 10,000th performance.

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PAUL NEWMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1925. The actor, director, race car driver and philanthropist appeared in 65 films, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” He received a Best Actor Oscar for “The Color of Money” in 1986. Newman was also a successful entrepreneur, establishing in 1982 Newman’s Own, a specialty foods company whose proceeds were donated to charity. He died in 2008 in Connecticut.

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THE DENTAL DRILL WAS PATENTED ON THIS DAY IN 1875. Dentist George F. Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan patented the electric dental drill, which was powered by an electromagnetic motor.

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TODAY IS OREGON’S JORIAD NORTH AMERICAN TRUFFLE DOG CHAMPIONSHIP. Hunting truffles, the most celebrated and expensive delicacies on the planet, requires knowledge of secret locales and trained truffle-hunting dogs. Spectators can cheer on dog teams as they race to search for hidden truffle-scented targets. Ten finalists then advance to the field trial: an authentic head-to-head and nose-to-ground action in the wild where nature alone determines where, what kinds and how many truffles are hidden. Winners are announced at an awards gala.

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BESSIE COLEMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1893. Coleman would not take no for an answer, especially where it concerned her dreams of flying. Because of her race and gender, she was denied admission to aviation school programs in the U.S. She therefore worked as a manicurist, earning her way to Paris. There she received an international pilot’s license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1921. Upon return, “Queen Bess” took part in numerous acrobatic air exhibitions where her stunt flying and “figure eights” won her many admirers. She avidly encouraged others to follow in her footsteps. Coleman, however, died in a plane crash during a practice session in Florida in 1926.

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

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“Radical simply means ‘grasping things at the root.’” — activist Angela Davis, who was born on this day in 1944

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