Jan. 4, 1950: The temperature in Concord climbs to 68 degrees, making this the warmest January day of the 20th century.
Jan. 5, 1996: The early-morning low temperature in Concord is a brisk 18 below zero.
Jan. 5, 1943: In his Monitor editorial, Editor James M. Langley calculates that “we” have completed 20 years of editorial writing, averaging 2,250 words a day 300 days a year. The editorial is headlined: “13,500,000 FUTILE WORDS.”
Jan. 5, 1791: The Legislature gathers in Concord’s new “town house” near Main and Court streets. The Legislature still moves its meeting site from town to town but will often convene at the town house until the granite State House is finished in 1819.
Jan. 5, 1813: The first products from state prison industries go on the market: axes, made in the prison’s blacksmith shop, at 10 shillings or $1.50 by the dozen.
Jan. 5, 1973: A New Hampshire Hospital security guard is fired because his hair is too long to suit Concord Police Chief Walter Carlson. Guards must have Concord police authority to function. By summer, the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission will order the guard back to work.
Jan. 6, 1942: The school board has decided that in the event of an air raid, Concord students will remain in school. Principals, teachers and janitors will be trained in air raid protection techniques.
Jan. 6, 1943: Twenty-one-year-old Richard B. Lynch, working on an expansion project at Concord Airport, is caught in the chains of a steam shovel owned by his father and crushed to death.
Jan. 6, 1853: A train derails and topples on the way to Concord, killing 11-year-old “Little Benny” Pierce. His father, the president-elect, and his mother are traveling with him but are unhurt. Jane Appleton Pierce is “completely distraught” and will never recover from the loss. After the funeral, the body will be carried down Main Street and Concord residents will pay their respects. Benny will be buried alongside his brother, who died at the age of 4 in 1843.
Jan. 7, 1942: Concord starts a three-day spell of bitterly cold weather with a low temperature of 15 below zero. The next day it’ll be 25 below, and the day after that, the temperature will fall to 22 below.
Jan. 8, 1895: The Supreme Court and State Library buildings are dedicated in Concord.
Jan. 9, 1944 – Miss Grace Blanchard, Concord’s retired librarian of 40 years, dies. In her will, she leaves $40,000 in public bequests, including $25,000 to the library.
