Glancing Backward 12/31/2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share thisToday is Thursday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2009. Today is New Year's Eve.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 31, 1909, the Manhattan Bridge, spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was officially opened to vehicular traffic by New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. on his last day in office.
Glancing Backward Locally:
50 years ago - 1959
Supervising Prinicipal Paul C. Cooper told the Towanda Valley Joint High School Board that by 1966, at least 16 more school rooms will be needed in the elementary schools to handle growing population.
First awards in the Camptown area Christmas home lighting competition were given to Gerald Frantz of Stevensville and Walter C. Ball of Camptown.
At the Teen House, there will be a record hop with Harry West of station WARM spinning the platters.
75 years ago - 1934
Seen about the borough: Ferris and Rita pinch-hitting for Pa and Ma Swank at the Swank soda fountain.
Declaring conditions had become so bad that "something had to be done," County Detective N.E. Benson raided a home on Railroad Street and another on the flats in South Towanda in search of illegal beverages.
Dr. John F. Sanders of Omaha, Neb., and Dr. W.P. Killingsworth of Beaumont, Tex., have started interning at Robert Packer Hospital.
Elsewhere on this date:
In 1759, Arthur Guinness founded his famous brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin.
In 1775, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed.
In 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1946, President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
In 1969, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was shot to death along with his wife and daughter in their Clarksville, Pa., home by hit men acting under the orders of UMWA president Tony Boyle.
In 1997, Michael Kennedy, the 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.
Ten years ago: People around the world celebrated while awaiting the arrival of the year 2000. Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation (he was succeeded by Vladimir Putin). The eight-day hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in Afghanistan ended peacefully. The United States prepared to hand over the Panama Canal to Panama at the stroke of midnight. Former Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson died in Boston at age 79.
Five years ago: President George W. Bush pledged $350 million to help tsunami victims, and didn't rule out sending even more U.S. aid to help people recover from what he called an "epic disaster." Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych resigned, admitting he had little hope of reversing the presidential election victory of his Western-leaning rival, Viktor Yushchenko.
One year ago: The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on an Arab request for a binding and enforceable resolution condemning Israel and halting its military attacks on Gaza. A man left four gift-wrapped bombs in downtown Aspen, Colo., in a bank-robbery attempt, turning New Year's Eve celebrations into a mass evacuation. (The man, identified as 72-year-old James Chester Blanning, shot and killed himself.) A woman gave birth aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 59 while en route from Amsterdam to Boston.
Today's Birthdays: TV producer George Schlatter is 80. Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is 72. Actor Tim Considine ("My Three Sons") is 69. Actress Sarah Miles is 68. Rock musician Andy Summers is 67. Actor Ben Kingsley is 66. Rock musician Peter Quaife (The Kinks) is 66. Producer-director Taylor Hackford is 65.
Be the first to comment on this article!