Day in history for February 12, 2006

1856 -- 150 years ago

Our citizens are availing themselves to the full of the bountiful fall of snow for the enjoyment of the rare luxury of sleigh-riding.

1881 -- 125 years ago

D.G.E. Barth was elected secretary of the Rodman Rifles to take the place of J.K. Cooke.

1906 -- 100 years ago

The new amusement hall and two buildings for tuberculosis patients at the Watertown Hospital plant will be dedicated next Monday.

1931 -- 75 years ago

Federal authorities launched an investigation of the Quad-City liquor war which flared Sunday morning with the bombing of the Moline Sandwich Shop.

1956 -- 50 years ago

When the new $1-an-hour minimum wage goes into effect March 1, it is likely to boost the annual payroll figures of Rock Island and Scott counties about $1 million.

1981 -- 25 years ago

On Sept. 1, 1857, a tall, gangly Springfield lawyer spent the day examining the railroad bridge between Rock Island and Davenport and the waters of the Mississippi River below it. The day's examination completed, the lawyer left for Chicago. Abraham Lincoln was ready to go to trial. This was the Lincoln of Illinois, the Lincoln not yet called to walk the national stage toward an eventual tragedy. The nation celebrates his birthday today.

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