Day in history for July 22, 2004

1854 -- 150 years ago

Fire destroyed a 2-story brick building on Front Street in Rock Island. It was occupied as a furniture shop and store and as a dwelling by A. Renfro and family. N.B. Buford was the owner of the building.

1879 -- 125 years ago

Reynolds, Salpaugh And Co. of Rock Island is laying 38 miles of railroad near Knoxville, Iowa, and is under contract to build a branch railway out of Omaha.

1904 -- 100 years ago

Mr. and Mrs. Lee Shannon have returned to Rock Island after a visit to the St. Louis World's Fair.

1929 -- 75 years ago

Kenneth D. Breisch, 5, was fatally injured by a truck while he was at play.

1954 -- 50 years ago

''Though WOC-TV will be on the air this fall with color television, don't get too excited.'' That was the warning from Ray Guth, program director of WOC-TV, to members of the Moline Exchange Club at their noon luncheon at Glenn Moore's. ''Frankly, color television does not produce a good picture, yet,'' said Guth, who just returned from a week's visit to NBC headquarters in New York.

1979 -- 25 years ago

After less than one year of existence, ''Moline Road'' is on the junkheap. At least the name is. The Rock Island County Board voted to name old Illinois Route 2 ''Rock River Road,'' settling, perhaps, a two-year controversy about what to call the road after the state yanked its numerical designation.

Back: Available days in July 2004