September 22nd in NYC History:
Posted: Sep 22, 2012 | 1:01 AM
1776: Nathan Hale, America's first spy, was hanged after declaring that "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country," He was caught in Brooklyn, near today's City Hall, where he is memorialized by a flattering sculpture, but he was executed somewhere between today's First Ave and 42nd St. and Third Avenue and 65th St. (Three different sources place his execution at three different corners.)
I used to think that his cover, disguised as a Dutch schoolteacher, while following British occupying troops around was silly, since Nieuw Amsterdam became New-York City 110 years before, but later I learned that the old Dutch Nieuwe Amsterdamers, 'Knickerbockers,' continued their old world traditions, including wearing knickers, into the 19th Century. In addition, Hale was a 21 year-old school teacher.
1931: Television debuts at Madison Square Garden.
1942: Longtime NBA Commissioner David Stern born.
1957: Singer Nick Cave born.
1958: Rocker Joan Jett born.
1964: "Fiddler on the Roof" debuts on Broadway, the first of 3,242 performances.
1989: Irving Berlin, son of a Jewish praying singing Cantor, composer of "White Christmas," one of the most popular songs in the history of music, dies at his home on Beekman Place at 101 years old.
1995: Time Warner purchases Turner Broadcasting for $7.5B, forming the largest entertainment company.