ON THIS DAY IN 1918The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported: “WASHINGTON — Miss Alice Wilson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Wilson of Baltimore, and niece of President Wilson, and Rev. IS McElroy, Jr. of Columbus, Georgia, were married last evening at the White House. It was the fifteenth wedding to take place at the Executive Mansion, and the third during the present Administration.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1924The Eagle reported: “LOCUST VALLEY, LI. — Long Island is a long way from Arizona, but there is no lack of contentment for the two smart brown bear cubs born in the mountain strongholds of that distant state, and captured alive a few weeks ago by Representative and Mrs. Trubee Davison and placed on the Davison property at Peacock Point, to the great delight of Trubee Jr., the Representative’s two and a half year old son. These two bear cubs are now three months old and about three feet or more tall. They are funny little fellows and seem quite at home in the wire-fenced quarters built for them, into which Trubee Jr. is doing his best to get. The bear cubs are named ‘Ornery’ and ‘Mazatal,’ the latter after one of the mountains where Mr. and Mrs. Davison made their hunting trip. They were shipped north in a small crate and brought to Mineola last month on a leash to promote the films that Representative Davison was showing to benefit the Legion Post there. Ornery and Mazatal will be traveling again this week, as they have been turned over to a park in the state and are due to be shipped to their future home there within a few days.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1945The Eagle reported: “Japan will be defeated ‘solely’ by air raids and the atomic bomb, without resort to invasion, according to Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. The World War I flying ace declared today that bombing raids should demoralize the enemy in the near future and ‘make him burst into tears.’ ‘This is a pure air power show in the Pacific,’ he said. ‘The Japanese communications systems are already disrupted and the food transportation of the entire country is disorganized. The destruction of the Japanese electrical system is already at an advanced stage.’ … Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, a University of California scientist who worked on the bomb, today refuted earlier reports that Dr. George B. Kistiakowsky ‘threw his arms around me and let out cries of joy’ when the test in the New Mexico desert was successful. ‘Dr. Kistiakowsky did not hug me,’ Dr. Oppenheimer. ‘He tapped me on the shoulder and asked me for the $10 he had bet.’ As the zero hour approached and the bet was made, Dr. Oppenheimer was skeptical about the result of the test.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1952The Eagle reported: “NASHVILLE (UP) — Representative Albert Gore ousted 83-year-old Senator Kenneth McKellar, who was seeking an unprecedented seventh consecutive term in the Senate, and lawyer Frank Clement defeated Governor Gordon Browning in Tennessee’s Democratic primary today… Gore, 44, built a 65,000-vote lead in his victory over McKellar. Results from 2,110 of the state’s 2,423 precincts showed Gore with 246,540 votes to McKellar’s 181,021… Gore’s headquarters in Memphis, where the contest may have been decided by the close outcome of the vote even though McKellar was ahead, became the scene of celebration.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1952The Brooklyn Viewers reported: “The sale of alcohol, wine and beer will be prohibited during polling hours on the day of the primary election, August 19, the State Liquor Authority announced yesterday. The ban will apply in New York City between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. John F. O’Connell, chairman of the SLA, said the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law confirms that ‘no establishment licensed to sell alcohol and/or wine for off-premises consumption shall remain open during polling hours on a general election or primary election day.’ He added that a similar restriction applies to the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption. In New York City, beer may be sold for off-premises consumption in grocery and drug stores during election hours.”
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Notable people born on this day including TV producer Donald P. Bellisarioborn 1935; Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffmanborn 1937; actress and singer Connie Stevensborn 1938 in Brooklyn; “CHiPs” star Larry Wilcoxborn 1947; “Madam Secretary” star Keith Carradineborn 1949, drummer and producer Willie Hallborn 1950; director of “Midnight Run” Martin Brestborn 1951; drummer Anton Figborn 1952; radio presenter Robin Quiverborn 1952; “Happy Days” star Don Mostborn in 1953 in Brooklyn; presenter of “Inside Edition” Deborah Norvilleborn 1958; member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the edge (U2), born 1961; rapper and actor Kool Moe Deeborn 1962; tennis champion Roger Federerborn 1981; NY Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzoborn 1989; and “Senorita” singer Shawn Mendesborn in 1998.
Frank Franklin II/AP
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A LIMITED MOTION POINT: Russell Markert was born on this day in 1899. The New Jersey-born choreographer founded the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and led them from 1932 to 1971. He died in 1990.
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UPS AND DOWNS: Dino De Laurentiis was born on this day in Italy in 1919. After producing films in Europe for 30 years, including several Fellini films, he came to the United States in 1976. Over the next 35 years, he produced a variety of Hollywood projects, including “Serpico,” “Blue Velvet” and “Manhunter,” but also flops like “King Kong,” “Flash Gordon” and “Dune.” He died in 2010.
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Special thanks to Chase’s Calendar of Events and the Brooklyn Public Library.
Quote:
“Without producers there is no film.”
— Filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis, who was born on this day in 1919
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Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the fourth-largest city in the United States. Although Brooklyn has become the epitome of “cool and hip” in recent years, Brooklyn was never “uncool” to those who were born here, raised their families here, and improved the community over the years.
