140 Years Ago
A preposterous new house that Mark Twain built (letter to the Springfield Union): The oddest piece of architecture that can be seen on Farmington Avenue is a house being built for Mark Twain. The style is indescribable and is a cross between a Mexican adobe and a Swiss cottage built of brick — costing $40,000. Mark’s own room, where he will spend most of his time, is at the top of the house and is almost entirely glass ...
130 Years Ago
Sea serpent: A marine monster, half a mile in length, has been seen going down the Bristol Channel, England, at 25 miles per hour. The monster’s head was clearly seen, and it left a greasy trail. This information comes by cable from London, and the marine monster is presumably the agent of some Fenian organization.
120 Years Ago
Bees: A swarm of bees have put their honey to the extent of several bucketsful in the head of the Goddess of Liberty on the Texas capitol, and they used her nostrils as the front door.
70 Years Ago
Jack Benny: Returned from a 32,000-mile tour overseas, entertaining the armed forces and came back with a duffle-bag’s-full of telephone numbers. He’s calling “Mom” — many a Mom. The boys asked if he could just tell Mom they’re fine — and Jack is doing it as fast as he can.
50 Years Ago
Honor Roll at Carson High School: Students receiving all A’s are Anne Christensen, Renee Johnson, Susan Kelley, Mark Carter, Douglas Pumphrey, Roberta Sharp, Vicki Palmer, Kenneth Reil, Nikki Tyler, Stephen Jensen, Karen Malmstrom and Rex Lott.
30 Years Ago
Space shuttle Columbia: The flight of the space shuttle Columbia with its Spacelab cargo is set to start in late November even though seasonal conditions will limit the return.
Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.
