Day in history for August 9, 2002

1852 -- 150 years ago

Kinney and Hakes of the Rock Island nursery have a quantity of Osage plants on hand and will contract to make farm hedges which they warrant to be proof as fencing against horses and cattle.

1877 -- 125 years ago

Billy Fales, night clerk at the Rock Island House, shot himself accidentally last night while he was cleaning a revolver.

1902 -- 100 years ago

Some Rock Island druggists are agitating for an agreement or ordinance setting 9 p.m. as the closing hour for drug stores.

1927 -- 75 years ago

Dwight Deere Wiman of Moline and New York City plans to produce several Broadway plays this winter. Mary Boland will star in the first, ``Women Go On Forever.'' Basil Rathbone will play the lead in two others.

1952 -- 50 years ago

Three Rock Island city officials, who conducted an inspection this morning of the McCabe department store warehouse where yesterday's $25,000 fire started, concluded that the fire was probably caused by an overloaded electrical circuit, according to Fire Chief Charles J. Wahlheim, one of the officials.

1977 -- 25 years ago

Lightning triggered a blaze early this morning at Hoffman School in East Moline, causing an estimated $20,000 in damage to the library and audiovisual center. East Moline fire investigators believe the fire started when lightning traveled through wiring to a television set in the library.

Back: Available days in August 2002