Day in history for November 18, 2003

1853 -- 150 years ago

Wanted in Rock Island: Factories for making furniture, corn brooms, pails and tubs, glue, combs, potato starch, white lead, cloth, soap and candles; also flour and saw mills, 100 new houses and 50 store buildings.

1878 -- 125 years ago

Plans for a combination armory and city hall arrived today and builders are now figuring on the work. The armory, with a drill room 60 by 85 feet, will be the finest in the state. The first floor front will be used as a city hall and a part of the building will contain the city jail.

1903 -- 100 years ago

Nine tons of honey are being shipped from Hillsdale and Prophetstown. Henry Stewart of Hillsdale supervises a thousand swarms of bees in that area.

1928 -- 75 years ago

The stock market shot up again. DuPont stock rose $60 in one day to $500 and Case shares zoomed $32 to $481.

1953 -- 50 years ago

E.J. (Gene) Lyons, 49, former Moline Dispatch police reporter and aviation editor, has been named assistant postmaster general in charge of personnel by President Eisenhower, according to an Associated Press dispatch from Washington. The position pays $15,000 a year.

1978 -- 25 years ago

This is a bridge with a history. Spanning the Rock River on the east edge of Lyndon, a bridge still hangs on, having served traffic since 1890. It rattles and bumps when crossed and the noises echo through town. But it hangs on.

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