MILESTONES: October 25, birthdays for Katy Perry, Ciara, Craig Robinson

October 25, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Katy Perry. Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/A

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ON THIS DAY IN 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Niagara Falls — Mrs. Anna Edson Taylor celebrated her [63rd] birthday by making a successful trip over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel. She is the first person to attempt such a performance, and the thousands who watched the barrel’s fall believed she would be killed. She was badly bruised but escaped with her life. Mrs. Taylor is a resident of Bay City, Michigan.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Eagle reported, “Influenza continued to show a falling off in the city today. In Brooklyn the report of new cases for the 24 hours ending at 10 a.m. today was 95 less than yesterday. Dr. H.T. Peck, the local health head, announced definitely that the borough was over the top of the peak and could look forward to a decrease from now on. The number of new cases for the city was 374 less than yesterday, but the number of deaths from both influenza and pneumonia was slightly larger, 16 more in the former and 21 in the latter.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “Billions of dollars of paper losses were converted into cash losses today as weak speculators were forced to sell their stocks and heavy liquidation checked a promising recovery. The big selling, however, brought only moderate reactions compared with the 20 and 50 point declines of yesterday. An early advance soon gave way before this selling and by midafternoon it was still heavy with the ticker tape 75 minutes late. Confidence had been restored, however, and the selling was only that which traders were forced by reason of thin margins to do. The market, however, was much more orderly. It was evident to many that banking interests were actively supporting stocks in certain instances. Demand from this source kept the declines within normal proportion.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “King Tut’s tomb, which according to Egyptian legend and tradition casts a spell of ill fortune on all who violate its sacred precincts, will visit bad luck on hundreds, perhaps thousands, this Winter if any credence can be placed in the age-old superstition … This is so because practically all who have signified their intention of going along on the cruise to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land this Winter aboard Samaria (Cunard White Star) have signed up for the special land trip to be made to the old Pharaoh’s resting place … Besides this tomb these bold ones will also penetrate the great Temple of Karnak, the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings and Queens, and Luxor.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “Washington, Oct. 25 (AP) — President [Franklin] Roosevelt today announced the promotion of Col. Benjamin O. Davis to become the first Negro general in the army’s history. Davis’ elevation, to be a brigadier general, was among a number of high rank promotions which Roosevelt said were required by the increase of the army. Maj. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, commander of the G.H.Q. air force, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, the same rank held by commanders of the army corps.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “Pearl Harbor, Oct. 25 (UP) — The American 3rd Fleet has sunk at least one Japanese aircraft carrier, two cruisers and a destroyer and damaged a dozen other warships, including five or six battleships, in a showdown battle with three enemy naval forces for control of Philippines waters, it was revealed today. ‘General action is continuing,’ Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, announced in a communique disclosing that probably the greatest air-sea battle of the war had been joined southwest, northwest and north of invaded Leyte Island. Japanese shore-based aircraft, supporting enemy fleet units, sank the 10,000-ton American aircraft carrier Princeton, but her captain, 133 other officers and 1,227 enlisted men were rescued, Nimitz said. He listed no other American losses.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “The Yankees will have to win the American League pennant and the World Series next year without the services of their new pitching star, Whitey Ford. It was Ford who got ’em into the series this Fall by winning nine [consecutive] games. Now he’s in the service of his Uncle Sam. But the Bronx Bombers are a team that overcomes all obstacles. Nobody thought they would win either in 1949 or 1950, but they fought through to victory each campaign.” Ford, later known as “The Chairman of the Board,” spent the 1951 and 1952 seasons in the Army and returned to the Yankees in 1953. The Astoria native won six championships with the team in his 16-year career and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974. He celebrated his 90th birthday on Oct. 21.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include pop star CIARA, who was born in 1986; actor BRIAN KERWIN, who was born in 1949; former college basketball coach and player BOBBY KNIGHT, who was born in 1940; violinist MIDORI, who was born in 1971; singer KATY PERRY, who was born in 1984; singer and songwriter HELEN REDDY, who was born in 1941; actor CRAIG ROBINSON, who was born in 1972; actress MARION ROSS, who was born in 1928; and author ANNE TYLER, who was born in 1941.

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GEOFFREY CHAUCER DIED ON THIS DAY IN 1400. The best-known English writer and poet of the Middle Ages, Chaucer’s greatest work, “Canterbury Tales,” consists of some 17,000 poetic lines. Unfinished at his death, it tells the stories of 23 pilgrims. Among his lesser-known prose writings is a treatise on the astrolabe titled “Brede and Milke for Children” (1387), written for “little Lewis, my son.” Chaucer died in London and is buried at Westminster Abbey.

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MINNIE PEARL, THE COMEDIAN AND GRAND OLE OPRY STAR, was born in Tennessee on this day in 1912. Pearl died in Nashville in 1996.

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PABLO PICASSO WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1881. Called by many the greatest artist of the 20th century, Picasso excelled as a painter, sculptor and engraver. He is said to have commented once, “I am only a public entertainer who has understood his time.” Picasso died in 1973.

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JOHN BERRYMAN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1914. He is considered one of the most innovative, important American poets of the 20th century and is best known for bringing idiomatic American English to poetry. Winner of the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for “77 Dream Songs” and, later, the National Book Award for the entire “Dream Songs” collection, Berryman died in 1972 in Minnesota.

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

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“It takes a long time to become young.” — Pablo Picasso, who was born on this day in 1881