Looking Backward
The north
10 years ago
Aug. 9, 1999:The recent deaths of two north country women in a grinding, head-on collision just north of Canton was the latest in a series of accidents on Route 11 between Antwerp and Potsdam that have claimed nearly two dozen lives over the past decade.
25 years ago
Aug. 9, 1984:The Watertown Times has received a citation from the Associated Press for information it provided the wire service for the July 27 accident in which five youths were killed on Route 12E near Clayton.
50 years ago
Aug. 9, 1959:The Oswego junior chamber of commerce plans to help attract industry to Oswego — by staging a Mexican bullfight. Proceeds from the bullfight, set tentatively for next Memorial Day weekend, will be turned over to industries choosing Oswego, the Jaycees said.
75 years ago
Aug. 9, 1934:A heavy shower, the first rain in more than two weeks, swept over Watertown and vicinity this morning. For 15 minutes the rain fell in torrents, but shortly after 6:10 it ceased. Scorching temperatures returned to the north country Wednesday, and the city of Watertown sweltered from the rays of a burning sun that sent the mercury soaring to 94 degrees.
100 years ago
Aug. 9, 1909:There is a rumor current in Clayton that a corporation is being formed with a capitalization of several millions for the purpose of buying up the major part of the Clayton waterfront to be used as the site for the finest summer hotel in the world. It is claimed by the backers that there is not a summer hotel in the country that can boast of anything like the outlook from Clayton's waterfront.
125 years ago
Aug. 9, 1884:A marsh covering 100 acres at Sterlingville is said to be the cause of much sickness. The town board of health has been ordered to abate the nuisance.
The world
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Today is Sunday, Aug. 9,the 221st day of 2009. There are 144 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.
On this date:
In 1842, the United States and Canada resolved a border dispute by signing the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
In 1854, Henry David Thoreau's "Walden," which described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published.
In 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.
In 1944, 258 African-American sailors based at Port Chicago, Calif., refused to load a munitions ship following the explosion of another ship that killed 320 men, two-thirds of them black.
In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally murdered at Tate's Los Angeles home; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon's resignation took effect. Vice President Gerald R. Ford became the nation's 38th chief executive.
In 1995, Jerry Garcia, lead singer of the Grateful Dead, died in Forest Knolls, Calif., of a heart attack at age 53.
Ten years ago:Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and the entire Cabinet, marking the fourth time in 17 months he had fired the government.
Five years ago:Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, addressing a court for the first time, asked victims of the blast for forgiveness as a judge sentenced him to 161 consecutive life sentences.
One year ago:Todd Bachman, the father of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman, was stabbed to death by a Chinese man in Beijing in an apparently random attack just hours after the start of the Olympic Games.
Today's Birthdays:Former baseball manager Ralph Houk is 90. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy is 81. Tennis Hall of Famer Rod Laver is 71. Comedian-director David Steinberg is 67. Actor Sam Elliott is 65. Actress Melanie Griffith is 52. Actress Amanda Bearse is 51. Rapper Kurtis Blow is 50. Singer Whitney Houston is 46. Former football player-turned-broadcaster Deion Sanders is 42. Actress Gillian Anderson is 41. Actor Eric Bana is 41. TV anchor Chris Cuomo is 39. Actress Liz Vassey is 37. Actress Rhona Mitra is 34. Actress Jessica Capshaw is 33. Actress Anna Kendrick is 24.
Thought for Today:"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." — Edward John Phelps, American lawyer and diplomat (1822-1900).
