Nov 30th in NYC History
Posted: Nov 30, 2012 | 3:38 PM
by Jared Goldstein
1835: Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Mo. He lived his latter years in NYC. I like to show one of his homes off, as well as his Chemist, on Greenwich Village Tours.
1901: Clyde LeRoy Sukeforth who promoted Jackie Robinson for the Major League born. Sukeforth was a BK Dodgers catcher in 1945 when he brought Robinson to Dodger President Branch Rickey to break the color barrier. Sukeforth
was also team Manager when Robinson joined the team in 1947. On my Brooklyn Heights walking tours, we go to the plaque commemorating where Robinson was signed, integrating him to the all white league.
1924: The Marconi Company wirelessly sends photographs to London in less than 1/2 an hour. What were they?
1930: Four New York area teams are in the National Football League: the Brooklyn Dodgers, the NY Giants, Staten Island, and Newark, New Jersey.
1940: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz wed. They become a beloved and powerful acting and production team.
When you see a film production around town, you frequently see a door marked "Lucy" and another "Desi."
They did not produce that movie. My bet is that the plot involves male and female leads who interact, deal with plot complications that create tension, and then they resolve them. The doors are code words for male and female lead, not the famous stars' names, so we don't bound up the steps and interrupt them.
1952: New York Giants football's worst defeat: losing to Pittsburgh, 63-7.
1960: U Thant of Burma becomes UN Secretary General, replacing Dag Hammarskjold after Hammarskjold died in a plane crash during a peace-making trip to Zambia. There's a tiny island in the East River, below the UN, named for U Thant. It has a small metal tower and some flags on it to prevent ships from crashing into it. We see it on my Roosevelt Island tours and my New York Harbor tours.
Tiny U Thant island, home to Cormorant sea Birds. Maybe their guano is expanding it.
2009: Serena Williams fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge.
Happy Birthday to these New Yorkers or folks who impacted NYC: Matthew Broderick, Dick Clark (1929), David Mamet (1947), Shirley Chisholm (1924), Mandy Patinkin (1952), and Ben Stiller (1965).