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MILESTONES: September 20, birthdays for John Tavares, George R.R. Martin, Jon Bernthal

September 20, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
John Tavares. AP Photo/Chris Szagola
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ON THIS DAY IN 1851, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Jefferson Davis, U.S. Sen. from Mississippi, has consented to run as the secessionist candidate for governor of that state, in place of Gen. [John A.] Quitman, who declined.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1881, the Eagle reported, “James A. Garfield, the twentieth president of the U.S., died last night at Long Branch of a wound received on the 2nd of July last in the city of Washington at the hands of an assassin named Guiteau. In this event three things are seen: A villainous blow at popular liberty; a strange mockery of human foresight and ambition; and a tragedy as pathetic as any that has ever shocked the affectations of men … So many reflections crowd upon the brain, in view of this calamity, that one hardly knows which to repress and which to utter. The passageway of the mind is partially blocked by rushing thoughts, as the doorway of a theater is sometimes choked by persons so anxious to get out that they stop each other.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1910, the Eagle reported, “The health authorities of Brooklyn have had their interest quickened by the dispatches from Middletown, Conn., and Pa., telling of [an] epidemic of infantile paralysis. Reports of new cases in this borough will, accordingly, be given special scrutiny and will be promptly dealt with … An Eagle reporter who visited some of the hospitals and clinics in Brooklyn this morning was informed that there were at the present time but very few cases of infant paralysis in the city … Brooklyn has been especially fortunate in escaping the disease, there having been but four cases in the entire borough reported to the Board of Health in the past seven weeks.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Eagle reported, “Petrograd, Sept. 19 (delayed) — The growing supremacy of the Bolshevik element in the councils of the Soldiers’ and Workmen’s delegates here and at Moscow, their radical program eliminating all property-owning classes from a voice in the government, is a development which is causing great concern. The resignation of the executive committee of the council — Tcheridze, Skobeleff, Tseretelli and Tchernoff and others — came as a direct result of the adoption on Sept. 13 by a large majority of a resolution committing the Soldiers’ and Workmen’s delegates to an ultra-socialistic line of conduct … Some newspapers say that the Maximilists are gaining complete control of the Soldiers’ and Workmen’s delegates, and that the situation promises to reach a crisis when the Democratic Congress meets.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Lueneberg, Sept. 20 (U.P.) — The silent testimony of a movie newsreel showing bulldozers shoveling hundreds of broken corpses into a mass grave at Belsen was unfolded before a British military tribunal today at the atrocity trial of 45 Nazi prison guards. A ripple of shocked surprise ran through the darkened courtroom as the picture unreeled, but the defendants looked on in grim silence. Two of the 19 women guards on the defendants’ bench turned their heads away. Their fellow guards watched unemotionally. The documentary film was taken by British cameramen immediately after the camp was liberated last April.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “The death of former Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia today brought a flood of messages of condolence from public officials, past and present, and from the thousands of others who knew the fiery ‘Little Flower.’ Mayor [William] O’Dwyer, notified only a few minutes after the end came, declared: ‘Although the death of former Mayor La Guardia was expected, nevertheless his passing brings with it a shock of awful finality which the people of this city must now feel. Not very long ago Fiorello La Guardia retired as mayor of this city after 12 long and notable years of service. I fully believe that his unselfish devotion to the people and his untiring and energetic efforts to promote public welfare contributed to a great extent to the failing health which culminated in his death today.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s parade and Borough Hall reception celebrating the Brooklyn Dodgers pennant victory, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been cancelled so the team may be in ‘peak condition’ to meet the Yankees in the World Series. Walter F. O’Malley, president of the club, announced the change in plans. He said … ‘A parade on a day when a game is scheduled would deprive the team of pre-game batting and infield practice. Borough President [John] Cashmore’s enthusiasm for a great civic demonstration is deeply appreciated by the Dodgers but we have prevailed on him to respect our wishes.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress MAGGIE CHEUNG, who was born in 1964; artist DALE CHIHULY, who was born in 1941; actor GARY COLE, who was born in 1956; actress KRISTEN JOHNSTON, who was born in 1967; Hall of Fame hockey player GUY LAFLEUR, who was born in 1951; Oscar Award-winning actress SOPHIA LOREN, who was born in 1934; author GEORGE R.R. MARTIN, who was born in 1948; and former hockey player JOHN TAVARES, who was born in 1990.

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BILLIE JEAN KING WON THE “BATTLE OF THE SEXES” ON THIS DAY IN 1973. She defeated Bobby Riggs in the nationally televised tennis match in three straight sets.

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UPTON SINCLAIR WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1878. The American novelist and politician worked for political and social reforms, and his best-known novel, “The Jungle,” prompted one of the nation’s first pure food laws. Sinclair died in 1968.

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“M SQUAD” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1957. The half-hour crime series featured a theme song composed by Count Basie and actor Lee Marvin as Lt. Frank Ballinger, a Chicago cop assigned to a unit that investigates murders. In one episode, “The Teacher,” Burt Reynolds played one of his first major roles.

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RED AUERBACH WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1917. The Brooklyn-born basketball coach won nine NBA titles as coach of the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1966. After retiring from coaching, Auerbach was either general manager or president of the Celtics from 1966 until 1997. He was team president from 2001 until his death at Washington, D.C., in 2006. In 1980, he was named the greatest coach in NBA history by the Professional Basketball Writers Association and is widely considered to be the best sports executive in history.

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THE FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1873 OCCURRED ON THIS DAY. For the first time in its history, the New York Stock Exchange was forced to close because of a banking crisis. Although the worst of the panic and crisis was over within a week, the psychological effect on businesspeople, investors and the nation at large was more lasting.

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

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“It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.” — Upton Sinclair, who was born on this day in 1878

 

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