Day in history for April 30, 2004

1854 -- 150 years ago

William Herrick, S.B. Barker and G.D. Haywood have been authorized by the Rock Island City Council to build a gas works.

1879 -- 125 years ago

Miss Maggie Koch was injured in the hand and one eye when a rifle exploded at the Koch Gun Shop on 17th Street, Rock Island.

1904 -- 100 years ago

After two years of saloons, Andalusia has again voted itself dry.

1929 -- 75 years ago

Lester Allen Willetts, 3, died of diptheria. His was the first diptheria death in Rock Island in 16 months.

1954 -- 50 years ago

Fred MacMurray said that June Haver is redecorating a house he recently bought, but they still ``don't know'' when they will marry. (June is a former Rock Island resident.) Hollywood regards the match as heart-warming because both June and Fred had lost someone they loved. Fred's wife, Lillian, died a year ago, and June entered a convent for a brief period following the death of her fiance.

1979 -- 25 years ago

Two Burlington-Northern trains met head-on near Hillsdale Friday night, damaging both locomotives and derailing five empty railcars. Hillsdale police said a northbound freight met a southbound coal train about 11 p.m. at Canoe Creek Bridge, a half-mile south of Hillsdale. Police said the coal train was stopped, and a mixup in signals or switch malfunction kept the freight on the main track.

Back: Available days in April 2004