Local History

50 years ago: The tot lot at Washington park was opened officially with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

10 years ago: Runnings Farm & Fleet hosted Radar, the tallest living horse in the world, at its New Ulm store.

5 years ago: Local Real Estate agent, Eric Bode, earned his Graduate REALTOR Institute (G.R.I) Designation.

One year ago: Mayor Robert Beussman and the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce Wilkommen Committee and members of First Choice Pregnancy cut the ribbon in front of First Choice’s newly renovated office.

And elsewhere…

Today is Sunday, July 9, the 190th day of 2017. There are 175 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.

On this date:

In 1540, England’s King Henry VIII had his 6-month-old marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.

In 1816, Argentina declared independence from Spain.

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous “cross of gold” speech at the Democratic national convention in Chicago.

In 1937, a fire at 20th Century Fox’s film storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey, destroyed most of the studio’s silent films.

In 1945, architect Frank Lloyd Wright unveiled his design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a spiral structure on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that was completed in 1959.

In 1962, pop artist Andy Warhol’s exhibit of 32 paintings of Campbell’s soup cans opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

In 1995, Jerry Garcia performed for the final time as frontman of the Grateful Dead during a concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field (Garcia died a month later).

Today’s Birthdays: Actor-singer Ed Ames is 90. Actor Brian Dennehy is 79. Actor Richard Roundtree is 75. Author Dean Koontz is 72. Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson is 70. Actor Chris Cooper is 66. TV personality John Tesh is 65. Actor Jimmy Smits is 62. Actor Tom Hanks is 61. Actress Kelly McGillis is 60. Actress-rock singer Courtney Love is 53. Musician/producer Jack White is 42. Actor-director Fred Savage is 41. Country musician Pat Allingham is 39. Actress Linda Park is 39. Actress Megan Parlen is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kiely Williams (3lw) is 31. Actor Mitchel (cq) Musso is 26. Actress Georgie Henley is 22.

Thought for Today: “Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.” — Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and reformer (1875-1955).