ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There is a movement on foot among the members of the Police force to try and have their period of vacation increased this Centennial year. The men get three, the Sergeants five and the Captains ten days, and the men especially think that their time should be extended so that they may have a chance to visit Philadelphia.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1915, the Eagle reported, “On the opening day of practice, before a national open golf championship, there is a great shouting of greetings from player to player, as the groups of four drift down the field in the four-ball medal play rehearsal before the curtain lifts on the one great annual dramatic event in the life of the average professional. Yesterday morning at Baltusrol it was a case of ‘Hello, Jim; hello, Jack; hello, Francis; hello, Joe,’ as the pros recognized friends passing by. There was no general reunion at the club house before the matches were made up, many of the players going out on the course as soon as they arrived, and hence missing one another in the locker room.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1919, the Eagle reported, “Father Knickerbocker’s (or should it be Mother Knickerbocker’s?) annual spring housecleaning is at hand, somewhat delayed it is true, but none the less determined to wield mop and broom and dustpan, rubbish can and dump cart for the city’s annual Clean-Up Week. Clean-Up Week starts in Brooklyn tomorrow and never before, according to the plans of the official housecleaners, will the borough get such a thorough overhauling in order to make it fresh, clean and presentable for the summer season.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “CATSKILL, N.Y., JUNE 7 — While there is little social activity in the Catskills at the present time, every indication points to a busy season, and the arrivals during the past week have shown a decided increase over those of other seasons. The cottage colonies have added many new members this week, and devotees of outdoor sports have found the pleasant weather an incentive to promote their interests in golf, tennis and riding.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “L.I.U. athletes who once spent their Summers at Manhattan beach are now seeking employment elsewhere, while their guiding light, Clair Bee, is doing a book on the history of basketball, stressing the 1898-1914 era of the game.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s first postwar celebration of Flag Day in five years was observed yesterday at indoor and outdoor exercises throughout a borough grateful for peace. Thanks for victory was the principal theme of addresses at commemorative events sponsored by veterans organizations and civic and fraternal groups. Celebrations also were held in schools. The day marked the 169th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the national emblem by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777 … At City Hall, Mayor [William] O’Dwyer addressed a Flag Day audience of 100 schoolchildren in the City Council chambers. He urged his listeners to ‘be true to the principles of those from whom we inherited this sacred emblem.’”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “OMAHA, NEB. (U.P.) — Texas and Lafayette meet tonight for the right to play Michigan in Tuesday night’s game of the NCAA college World Series here. Texas remained in the running in the double elimination tournament Sunday night by smacking Michigan 6-4, after losing to the Wolverines 12-5 on Saturday. Lafayette defeated Boston College 2-1 in 11 innings to earn its shot at the national college baseball title.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “Oscar winner Anne Bancroft may walk the middle aisle with Mel Brooks, Williamsburg lad who made good as a writer.”
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Leah Remini. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams, who was born in 1938; political activist and businessman Ward Connerly, who was born in 1939; Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Holmgren, who was born in 1948; former Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, who was born in 1949; “Dance Fever” host Deney Terrio, who was born in 1950;
Andy Pettitte. Photo: Kathy Willens/AP
Kansas lead singer Steve Walsh, who was born in 1951; “According to Jim” star Jim Belushi, who was born in 1954; Baseball Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Yankees third baseman Wade Boggs, who was born in 1958; “The Young and the Restless” star Eileen Davidson, who was born in 1959; Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt, who was born in 1963; “Friends” star Courteney Cox, who was born in 1964; “The King of Queens” star Leah Remini, who was born in 1970; former N.Y. Yankees pitcher and 2001 ALCS MVP Andy Pettitte, who was born in 1972; “How I Met Your Mother” star Neil Patrick Harris, who was born in 1973; and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Madison Kocian, who was born in 1997.
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LAW OF THE LAND: On this day in 1215, King John of England sealed the Magna Carta “in the meadow called Ronimed between Windsor and Staines.” Continually reinterpreted, the Magna Carta influenced the rise of England’s constitutional monarchy and lent historical weight to 18th-century ideas about inalienable natural law. It is still invoked popularly and in jurisprudence as a symbol of the written law’s power to subdue tyranny. Four original copies of the 1215 charter survive.
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Courteney Cox. Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
COLLEGE CREDIT: The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day in 1804. It changed the method of electing the president and vice president after a tie in the electoral college during the election of 1800. Rather than each elector voting for two candidates, with the candidate receiving the most votes elected president and the second-place candidate elected vice president, each elector was now required to designate their choice for president and vice president, respectively.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” — former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who was born on this day in 1932.