130 YEARS AGO
Blue lights: The blue lights seen at the Empire cemetery, which were supposed to be gases issuing from the graves were instead pyrotechnic lights placed on the graves of deceased Chinese men by their countrymen.
120 YEARS AGO
All sorts: Grass in many parts of town is quite green and lilacs and flowering shrubs are beginning to leaf out. Jim Yerington is regarded as the boss floraculturist of Hawthorne. He makes chry-santhemums bloom in the sand and without irrigation.
70 YEARS AGO
Photo caption: An Iraq native gazes across the Mosul wells of British-controlled Iraq, which some experts say will be one of the three goals Adolf Hitler will attempt to reach this spring.
50 YEARS AGO
Photo caption: Calling at White House, two girls representing some 3,000,000 American Girl Scouts, present President Kennedy with a Brownie doll for his daughter Caroline - in connection with Girl Scout week.
20 YEARS AGO
Museum close to opening: The ground floor of the Nevada State Museum could reopen this weekend. Last year a structural engineer advised that the building could collapse during a moderate earthquake. The building was closed on July 4.
10 YEARS AGO
"Gladiator" won five Academy Awards including best picture. Julia Roberts won best actress for her portrayal of the law assistant in "Erin Brockovich."
• Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.
