Posted in On This Day, tagged gov angus mclean, gov harry byrd, us highway 1 on November 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1927: Gov. Angus McLean of North Carolina and Gov. Harry Byrd of Virginia unlock a ceremonial gate across the section of U.S. 1 now linking their states. The nation’s first major border-to-border highway will eventually cover 2,467 miles from Canada to Key West. In North Carolina it enters in Warren County, [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged 1944 presidential election, fdr, o. max gardner, pepperell mfg, shelby nc on November 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1944: Former Gov. O. Max Gardner, a Democrat, enjoys himself in a letter to the president of Massachusetts’ Pepperell Mfg. Co., a Republican, on the occasion of FDR’s reelection: “I thought about you around midnight November 7th when the first glimmering results came in from Massachusetts, and I had no difficulty [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged caledonia prison farm, cumberland county nc, david carbine williams, gov angus mclean, jimmy stewart, m1 carbine on November 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1926: Firearms inventor David Marshall “Carbine” Williams, imprisoned at Caledonia Farm, writes his mother: “I am not in a writing mood. I am at present under stress of an unusual type of blues caused by a collision of inventive thoughts on a certain subject in my mind that is hard pressed [...]
Posted in Just A Bite, On This Day, Tar Heelia, Tar Talk on November 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Research Triangle Park leaders unveiled plans today to update “mom and dad’s research park.” The 68-page document lays out steps for denser development of the park and the creation of a wider range of amenities. The plan is a response to concerns that there is little land left for development in the 7,000 acre park [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged david copperfield, hotel charlotte on November 6, 2012 | 5 Comments »
On this day in 1988: Taping a TV special, magician David Copperfield, handcuffed and locked in a safe, escapes from the old Hotel Charlotte moments before its implosion. The 12-story hotel has been closed since 1973, but in its heyday it was Charlotte’s finest. Among its guests: Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and [...]
Posted in From the Stacks, History, Just A Bite, On This Day, Tar Heelia on November 6, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Edenton kicks off its anniversary celebrations today at noon with the ringing of the Chowan County Courthouse bells 300 times. The town dates its beginning to the passage of an act in the colonial Assembly calling for “building a Court house to hold the Assembly in, at the fork of Queen Ann’s Creek commonly called [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged boston daily advertiser, chicago tribune, nc reconstruction, sidney andrews on October 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1865: Sidney Andrews, Southern correspondent for the Boston Daily Advertiser and the Chicago Tribune during the early days of Reconstruction, sums up his observations of North Carolina: “Spindling of legs, round of shoulders, sunken of chest, lank of body, stooping of posture, narrow of face, retreating of forehead, thin of nose, [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged jim thorpe, olympic medals, rocky mount nc, rocky mount railroaders on October 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1982: In Lausanne, Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee restores two gold medals won by the late Jim Thorpe. Thorpe, an American Indian voted the greatest athlete of the first half of the century, won medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 games at Stockholm. A few months later, however, [...]
Posted in From the Stacks, History, On This Day, Postcards, Tar Heelia, Tar Talk on October 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »
The North Carolina State Fair is set to open for its 145th year tomorrow in Raleigh. The event has changed over the years. Electricity arrived in 1884 and the first Midway ride was erected in 1891. The first food booths opened in 1900. And the first airplane exhibit was held in 1910, almost seven years [...]
Posted in On This Day, tagged capt james iredell waddell, confederate ship shenandoah, pittsboro nc on October 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1864: Capt. James Iredell Waddell of Pittsboro, assigned by the Confederacy to cripple the Northern economy by sea, sails from England. He will take the clipper ship Shenandoah as far as Australia, then head north, burning and scuttling ships as he goes. In the Bering Strait he burns eight American whalers. [...]
