MILESTONES: August 8, birthdays for Roger Federer, Shawn Mendes, Meagan Good

August 8, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 220th day of the year.

ON THIS DAY IN 1877, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The Union News Company’s fast train over the Long Island Railroad every Sunday morning carries the Sunday Eagle. Brooklynites at summer resorts on the line of the road may enjoy the luxury of having the Eagle at their breakfast table by patronizing the newsboy dispatched from the train.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1851, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Last evening, a little after 5 o’clock, a drove of cattle which were crossing the South Ferry, after being driven on board the boat Transit, became rampant and unmanageable, rushing about the deck with a sort of frenzy, and endangering all those who might be standing outside the cabins on deck. During the performance of their interesting evolutions, two of them, with less forethought and good fortune than the others appeared to possess, dashed headlong down the narrow passage below decks. Here their mad capers were suddenly stopped; for they had fallen into the hands of their adversaries (the firemen and engineers), who soon secured them with ropes and other appendages, so as to retain them in quiet till a convenient opportunity might be afforded for taking them on deck. For this purpose a portion of the deck was taken up in the course of the night, a purchase rigged above, and the cattle hoisted out.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1900, the Eagle reported, “Newsboys in the Eastern District are waging a fierce war against two Manhattan evening papers. There are from fifty to sixty boys on strike against the sale of these papers. The boys gave the police some trouble. For some time the rates given them by the papers in question have been 60 cents per hundred. The boys want to the papers at 50 cents. A man arrived at the foot of Broadway, from Manhattan, about 11 o’clock with a bundle of papers. He was assaulted, knocked down, and the papers torn into shreds before the policemen could interfere. Another man arrived a little later with another bundle, and he was treated likewise. Toward noon another man arrived with a bundle of pink papers which are retailed at a cent apiece. He was lionized and his papers sold like hot cakes … When a fourth man arrived with papers soon after almost a riot was precipitated, and the ferry entrance was littered with torn newspapers. A little eight-year-old boy … was taken to the station house and released … Three other boys were afterward taken to the Clymer Street police station on a charge of disorderly conduct.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “It is officially announced today that English troops under the direction of French officers are disembarking on French soil. The point of disembarkation is not revealed, but it is assumed to be not far from the Belgian border. The disembarkation was made under the direction of French officers who spoke English fluently, and was witnessed by a crowd that cheered the Englishmen.”

It was also reported, “Two thousand reservists of the French army are sailing this afternoon from the foot of 33rd Street in South Brooklyn on the Fabre liner Sant’ Anna for the scene of war in France. From the North River pier of the White Star Line the Adriatic sailed at noon today with a smaller quota of reservists, these bound for Belgium … ‘We go to fight for France,’ said Louis. ‘Ah, how happy we should be that we can fight for the dear country!’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Tony Lazzeri, 42, who rose from San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf district to become one of baseball’s greatest infielders with the New York Yankees, will be buried here tomorrow. He was found dead in his home late yesterday, apparently of a heart attack.” A lifetime .292 hitter who won six pennants and five World Series championships in his 12 years with the Yankees, Lazzeri was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans’ Committee in 1991. Although widely considered to be the best second baseman in the team’s history, he has yet to be honored with a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.

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ON THIS DAY IN 2007, Brooklyn and Staten Island were hit by a tornado. The Home Reporter and Sunset News reported that the twister “cut a path through Bay Ridge and Sunset Park during the early morning hours of Aug. 8, uprooting trees, shearing off the roofs of houses and shattering glass windows. The storm also ripped apart store awnings and smashed car windshields. The powerful winds, estimated to be more than 100 miles per hour, left enormous damage in their wake. Mayor [Mike] Bloomberg came to Bay Ridge around 11 a.m. to assess the damage. The mayor toured the 300 block of 68th Street with U.S. Rep. Vito Fossella, state Sen. Marty Golden and Councilman Vincent Gentile. At press time, the storm had not yet been officially declared a tornado.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor KEITH CARRADINE, who was born in 1950; musician THE EDGE, who was born in 1961; tennis player ROGER FEDERER, who was born in 1981; Oscar Award-winning actor DUSTIN HOFFMAN, who was born in 1937; singer and TV personality DREW LACHEY, who was born in 1976; TV host DEBORAH NORVILLE, who was born in 1958; first female president of the American Bar Association ROBERTA COOPER RAMO, who was born in 1942; actress CONNIE STEVENS, who was born in Brooklyn in 1938; singer and songwriter MEL TILLIS, who was born in 1932; and actor MICHAEL URIE, who was born in 1980.

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FREDRIC MARCH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1897. The award-winning actor performed on both the stage and screen. He made more than 65 movies and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning in 1932 for his role in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and in 1947 for “The Best Years of Our Lives.” In 1956, he appeared on stage in the world premiere of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” He received the Tony Award for that performance. March died in California in 1975.

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RICHARD NIXON ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION ON THIS DAY IN 1974. Facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, the then-president announced he would resign the following day.

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MATTHEW A. HENSON WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1866. The African-American explorer met Robert E. Peary while working in a Washington, D.C store in 1888 and was hired to be Peary’s valet. He accompanied Peary on his seven subsequent Arctic expeditions. During the successful 1908-09 expedition to the North Pole, Henson and two of the four Eskimo guides reached their destination in 1909. Peary arrived minutes later and verified the location. Henson’s account of the expedition, “A Negro Explorer at the North Pole,” was published in 1912. In addition to the Congressional Medal awarded all members of the North Pole expedition, Henson received the Gold Medal of the Geographical Society of Chicago and, at 81, was made an honorary member of the Explorers Club. Henson died in New York in 1955.

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DINO DE LAURENTIIS WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1919. After spending 30 years producing films in Europe, including several Fellini films, De Laurentiis came to the U.S. in 1976. Over the next 35 years, he produced a diverse assortment of Hollywood projects, including “Serpico,” “Blue Velvet” and “Manhunter,” as well as several notably unsuccessful films such as “King Kong,” “Flash Gordon” and “Dune.” He died 2010 in California.

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EMILIANO ZAPATA WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1879. Best remembered as a hero of the Mexican Revolution, Zapata was the commander of the Liberation Army of the South. He advocated agrarian reform and championed the cause of the peasant. In 1919, Zapata was ambushed and assassinated at Morelos.

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

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“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” — journalist Sydney J. Harris