March 8, 1917

February Revolution begins

1950

VW bus, icon of counterculture movement, goes into production

March 9, 1959

Barbie makes her debut

1985

First Adopt-A-Highway sign goes up

1916

Poncho Villa raids US

March 10, 1876

Speech transmitted by telephone

1969

Ray pleads guilty to King assassination

1988

Disco sensation Andy Gibb dies at age 30

March 11, 1997

Paul McCartney knighted

1779

Congress establishes the

US Army Corps of Engineers

March 12, 1963

FDR gives first fireside chat

2003

Police recover Elizabeth Smart and

arrest her abductors

March 13, 1942

US Army launches K-9 Corps

1836

Houston retreats from Santa Anna’s army

March 14, 1879

Albert Einstein born

1950

The FBI debuts 10 Most Wanted

Great Blizzard of ‘88 hits East Coast

March 11, 1888

On this day in 1888, one of the worst blizzards in American history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping as much as 55 inches of snow in some areas. New York City ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and powerful winds form the storm. At the time, approximately one in every four Americans lived in the area between Washington D. C. and Maine, the area affected by the Great Blizzard of 1888.

On March 10, temperatures in the Northeast hovered in the mid-50s. But on March 11, cold Arctic air from Canada collided with Gulf air from the south and temperatures plunged. Rain turned to snow and winds reached hurricane-strength levels. By midnight on March 11, gusts were recorded at 85 miles per hour in New York City. Along with heavy snow, there was a complete whiteout in the city when the residents awoke the next morning.

Despite drifts that reached the second story of some buildings, many city residents trudged out to New York’s elevated trains to go to work, only to find many of them blocked by snow drifts and unable to move. Up to 15,000 people were stranded on the elevated trains; in many areas, enterprising people with ladders offered to rescue the passengers for a small fee. In addition to the trains, telegraph lines, water mains, and gas lines were also located above ground. Each was no match for the powerful blizzard, freezing and then becoming inaccessible to repair crews. Simply walking the streets was perilous. In fact, only 30 people out of 1,000 were able to make it to the New York Stock Exchange for work; Wall Street was forced to close for three straight days. There were also several instances of people collapsing in snow drifts and dying, including Senator Roscoe Conkling, New York’s Republican Party leader.

Many New Yorkers camped out in hotel lobbies waiting for the worst of the blizzard to pass. Mark Twain was in New York at the time and was stranded at his hotel for several days. P. T. Barnum entertained some of the stranded at Madison Square Garden. The East River, running between Manhattan and Queens, froze over, an extremely rare occurrence. This inspired some brave souls to cross the river on foot, which proved a terrible mistake when the tides changed and broke up the ice, stranding the adventurers on ice floes. Overall, about 200 people were killed by the blizzard in New York City alone.

But New York was not the only area to suffer. Along the Atlantic coast, hundreds of boats were sunk in the high winds and heavy waves. The snowfall totals north of New York City were historic: Keene, New Hampshire received 36 inches; New Haven, Connecticut, 45 inches; and Troy, New York was hit by 55 inches of snow over three days. In addition, thousands of wild and farm animals froze to death in the blizzard.

In the wake of the storm, officials realized the dangers of above-ground telegraph, water, and gas lines and moved them below ground. In New York City, a similar determination was made about the trains, and within 10 years, construction began on an underground subway system that is still in use today.

Clinton County News Headlines:

Thursday, March 9, 1950 – Volume 1, #19

House passes bill to create new judicial district

The Kentucky House of Representatives Friday passed, 58 to 11, a bill creating a new judicial district out of Clinton, Russell, and Wayne. The measure was previously passed by the Senate, but due to an amendment added in the House was returned to the Senate for concurrence.

The district would be known as the Fortieth Judicial District. Clinton and Wayne are now in the 28th District, and Russell is in the 29th.

If finally passed, the bill will become effective August 28, 1950 and would give Gov. Earle C. Clements an opportunity to name a circuit judge and Commonwealth’s Attorney for the new district to serve until after the elections of 1951.

It was reported that Parker Duncan, Monticello attorney and a Democrat, would be named to the judgeship.

Representative Losey of Somerset opposed the juggling of the districts, contending the redistricting is unwarranted because of a lack of court business in the area.

Clinton Countian among war dead honored at Pearl Harbor

The flag flies again from the battleship Arizona, which sank at her berth in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. From today on, the Arizona will fly our country’s flag just as proudly as she did on the morning of December 7, 1941.

The body of Clay C. Rector, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Rector, Albany, is among the bodies of 1,092 of the Arizona’s officers and men remaining on the ship.

A 50-foot flag pole has been set on the superstructure, which still juts above the water, in a direct remembrance.

Each day the flag will be raised and lowered as are the colors on any active ship of the fleet.

Ruby found guilty of murder

March 14, 1964

Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is found guilty of the “murder with malice” of Oswald and sentenced to die in the electric chair. It was the first courtroom verdict to be televised in U. S. history.

Ruby shot Oswald as he was being transferred to a more secure jail. Ruby emerged from the crowd with a 38 revolver concealed and fired the fatal shot. He said he was distraught over the president’s assassination. Some called him a hero, but he was nonetheless charged with first degree murder.

Ruby was believed to have minor connections to organized crime and operated strip joints and dance halls in Dallas. He had a relationship with many Dallas policemen, which amounted to various favors in exchange for leniency in their monitoring of his establishments. He features prominently in Kennedy assassination theories, and many believe he killed Oswald to keep him from revealing a larger conspiracy. In his trail Ruby denied the allegation and pleaded innocent on the grounds that his great grief over Kennedy’s murder had caused him to suffer “psychomotor epilepsy” and shoot Oswald unconsciously. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to die.

Two years later, The Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision on the grounds of improper admission of testimony and the fact that Ruby could not have received a fair trial in Dallas at the time. In January 1967, while awaiting a new trial to be held in Wichita Falls, Ruby died of lung cancer in a Dallas hospital.

Famous bank robber Jesse James’ parents were both born in Kentucky. His father was Robert Sallee James who was born in Logan County. He was a Baptist minister, revivalist and a hemp farmer who was very prosperous. He was among the founders of William Jewell College in 1849. He died in California in August 1850 from cholera he contracted while prospecting and ministering to the crowds of gold miners during the California Gold Rush. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Hangtown Gold Camp, later known as Placerville.

Zeralda Elizabeth Cole was born in Woodford County. She was raised by her mother’s relatives in Kentucky and attended a Catholic girls school. She married Robert James in Stamping Ground, Kentucky at the age of 16. They moved to the vicinity of Centerville, (later Kearney) Missouri to start their family. Zeralda and Robert had four children Alexander Franklin, Robert R, Jesse Woodson, and Susan Levenia.

After Robert’s death, Zeralda married twice more, producing four more children with her third husband.