MILESTONES: March 9, birthdays for Bow Wow, Brittany Snow, Clint Dempsey

Brooklyn Today

March 9, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Bow Wow. Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Share this:

Greetings, Brooklyn. Today is the 68th day of the year.

On this day in 1874, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported the death of the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore. A New York native, Fillmore is one of the few presidents whose birth in a log cabinet is documented. He served four terms in Congress and was the comptroller of New York when Zachary Taylor picked him as the vice presidential candidate on the Whig Party ticket. When Taylor died in office halfway through 1950, Fillmore found himself having to deal with the issue of slavery. The Eagle obituary discussed Fillmore’s views on slavery and on preserving the Union. He supported the Compromise of 1850, which the Eagle called “safety valve of the Union.” Fillmore did not win a second term to the presidency and the Whig Party dissolved soon afterward.

****

On this day in 1910, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that two groups of women (and some men) were heading to Albany for a hearing with the state Legislature about the women’s suffragette movement in New York. About 350 women descended upon what was then called Grand Central Depot for two trains to Albany. One group was in favor of the movement, while the other was against it. Interestingly, the five men present were part of the suffrage group. The Eagle article reported that the women from each group had to make sure they got on the right train. The western U.S. territories were ahead of the East Coast on this issue: Wyoming had granted women voting rights in 1869, and Utah did the same the following year.

****

On this day in 1930, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page featured the obituary of William Howard Taft, the only person to become both president of the United States and — later — chief justice of the Supreme Court. William Howard Taft was born into a politically powerful Ohio family; his father, Alphonse Taft, served as attorney general under President Ulysses S. Grant. Although he had held the nation’s two highest offices, his true aspiration was his appointment as chief justice.

The Eagle obituary praised Taft’s “unfaltering tolerance and his unswerving integrity. President Herbert Hoover called for 30 days of mourning. Taft was to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

****

On March 10, 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page reported that Brooklyn City aldermen proposed sites for a new Municipal Building. (Brooklyn would not become part of New York City for another 22 years.) Two sites were proposed: one on Adams Street The aldermen believed that the Joralemon Street site, county property sitting adjacent to the courthouse, was more appropriate. Today, the Municipal Building sits at 210 Joralemon St., directly across from Borough Hall Plaza that also leads to the state Supreme Court building.

****

On March 11, 1861, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page featured a synopsis of the Virginia Convention that dealt with stance toward the Union by Virginia and the Southern States that had seceded. The verbose report proposed actions for the Union and Virginia to take if the commonwealth is unable to obtain satisfaction from other non-slave holding states. A conference was also called for the states bordering those where slavery was permitted

****

NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include Oscar Award-winning actress JULIETTE BINOCHE, who was born in 1964; rapper and actor BOW WOW, who was born in 1987; American soccer star CLINT DEMPSEY, who was born in 1983; actress LINDA FIORENTINO, who was born in 1960; singer and musician MICKEY GILLEY, who was born in 1936; actor OSCAR ISAAC, who was born in 1979; photographer and journalist DAVID HUME KENNERLY, who was born in 1947; actor EMMANUEL LEWIS, who was born in Brooklyn in 1971; former baseball player TERRY MULHOLLAND, who was born in 1963; musician and songwriter JEFFREY OSBORNE, who was born in 1948; actress BRITTANY SNOW, who was born in 1986; former baseball player BENITO SANTIAGO, who was born in 1965; actress TRISH VAN DEVERE, who was born in 1943; and actress JOYCE VAN PATTEN, who was born in 1934.

****

THE BARBIE DOLL DEBUTED ON THIS DAY IN 1959. The popular girls’ doll debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City. More than 800 million Barbies have been sold.

****

VITA SACKVILLE-WEST WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1892. The award-winning author, lecturer, broadcaster and landscape architect is now arguably best known for her love affair with Virginia Woolf and for her gardens at Sissinghurst. Her two greatest passions, writing and gardening, are married in “The Land,” a “poetic saga of the land and the beauties of the changing seasons.” Recipient of the Hawthornden Prize and the Heinemann Prize, Sackville-West was made a Companion of Honour in 1948 for her work. She died in 1962 in England.

****

YURI ALEXSEYEVICH GAGARIN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1934. The Russian astronaut was the first person to travel into space. In 1961, the 27-year-old Soviet Air Force major made his flight, which lasted 108 minutes. He orbited Earth in a rocket-propelled, five-ton space capsule 187 miles above Earth’s surface. Gagarin was killed in an airplane crash near Moscow in 1968. After his death, the town in which he was born was renamed Gagarin and the Gagarin Museum was established in the frame house where he spent his childhood.

****

AMERIGO VESPUCCI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1454. The Italian navigator, merchant and explorer is the namesake of the Americas. Between 1499 and 1502, he participated in at least two expeditions, which took him to the coast of South America, where he discovered the Amazon and Plata rivers. Vespucci’s expeditions were of great importance because he believed that he had discovered a new continent, not just a new route to the Orient. Neither Vespucci nor his exploits achieved the fame of Columbus, but the New World was to be named for Vespucci by an obscure German geographer and mapmaker, Martin Waldseemuller. Ironically, in his work as an outfitter of ships, Vespucci had been personally acquainted with Christopher Columbus. Vespucci died in Spain in 1512.

****

THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) will host “Free Friday: Artisanal Retentive!” tonight at 5 p.m. BHS will throw open its doors for an evening exploration of the borough’s inexorable artisanal identity. Take a whirl through the new exhibition, “The Business of Brooklyn,” and pop in on pop-up small-batch talks on start-up culinary ventures. Indulge in a round of artisanal buzzword bingo between free frosty bottles from Brooklyn Brewery. For more information, visit brooklynhistory.org.