The Beatles Take New York
Mama’s Boy: Benny Leonard (left), Jewish son and unbeaten lightweight champion of the world, announced his retirement from boxing over the heartache the fighting caused his mother. Image by Pacific & Atlantic/Forward Association
1914 • 100 years ago
A No-Goodnik in Brownsville
In July we reported how Max Kaplan, a children’s pants manufacturer in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, ran out on his wife, Yetta Kaplan, and their three children, leaving them without any means of support whatsoever. After the report appeared, Max Kaplan himself appeared in our offices on East Broadway, claiming that he didn’t run away. After all, if he had run away, what would he be doing here in our offices? Although he showed up to plead his case, the truth was that Kaplan had abandoned his wife and, as our reporter discovered from his building’s housekeeper and his neighbors, he and his wife had horrible shouting matches and he beat her frequently. Also, according to Yetta Kaplan, her husband spent all his wages in the local saloon, and witnesses claimed to have seen him in the bank with another woman as he emptied the Kaplans’ bank account of their life savings of $125.
1939 • 75 years ago
Yiddish Icons Protest
A group of major Yiddish writers and cultural figures connected with Alveltlekher Yidisher Kultur Farband — International Yiddish Culture Alliance, a communist cultural organization, have announced that they are quitting after the announcement regarding the new pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. According to reports, some of those who have decided to leave the organization are quite prominent, and include former Morgn Freiheit editor, Meylakh Epshteyn. The announcement was made at a special meeting, during which the current editor of the Morgn Freiheit, Moyshe Olgin, begged — with tears in his eyes — the writers to stay with the communists. To all accounts, Olgin was not successful.
1964 • 50 years ago
The Beatles Take New York
Thousands of girls besieged John F. Kennedy International Airport after discovering that the Beatles would be landing there. The group is in New York to play two concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium. Hundreds of girls had already appeared at the airport at 4 a.m., when the four boys with disheveled hair landed. By the time the guys got out of their plane, thousands of girls were already screaming. One girl broke through the police barricade and grabbed one of the band members’ hands and then ripped a medallion off the neck of the “Jewish Beatle,” Ringo Starr, aka Richard Starkey. Starr later said in a radio interview that he was very upset, as he had worn the medallion since the age of 10. When he said he wanted it back, more than 150 girls called up, claiming to have the medallion.
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