Oct. 11, 1854: In a closed-door meeting at Concord's Eagle Hotel, former New Hampshire congressman Edmund Burke leads a group of disenchanted Democrats who vote to repudiate President Franklin Pierce.
Oct, 11, 1894: James M. Langley is born in Hyde Park, Mass. He will be the editor and publisher of the Concord Monitor for four decades, beginning in 1923. He will be instrumental in the campaign to elect Dwight D. Eisenhower president in 1952 and will later serve as Eisenhower's ambassador to Pakistan.
Oct. 11, 1983: The Concord Library's collection of 500 stuffed birds and mammals is loaded into a U-Haul and trucked to the new Science Center of New Hampshire in Holderness for display. Just as well. The library used to lend the animals to Concord residents, whose household pets chewed their wings and took swipes at their feathers. Estimated cost to restore them: $5,000-$10,000.
Oct. 12, 2001: With an anthrax scare sweeping the country, state officials release an anthrax fact sheet and guidelines for handling suspicious packages. “Mail room staff and persons opening letters should be alert to unusual letters and packages,” said Dr. Jesse Greenblatt, the state epidemiologist.
Oct. 12, 2002: It used to be that Concord had an affordable housing shortage, the Monitor reports. Today, it simply has a housing shortage – one that's hitting every income sector, from minimum wage workers to wealthy executives.
Oct. 13, 1987: The temperature in Concord falls to 22 degrees, a record low.
Oct. 13, 2000: Concord developer Steve Duprey announces the new conference center at Horseshoe Pond will be named for the Grappone family, who “stood out among all our wonderful donors.” The Grappones donated more than $700,000 to the project.
Oct. 14, 2002: In the first of a series of televised debates the candidates for the U.S. Senate, Republican U.S. Rep. John E. Sununu and Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, repeatedly strike the nerve that voters find most sensitive: the floundering economy. From protecting the environment to reforming the Social Security system, the candidates repeat many of the criticisms that have filled a continuous loop of TV ads in the past month.
Oct. 15, 1851: Philip C. Hunt is caught in a belt and carried around the shafting of a Penacook mill, mangling one leg and one arm badly, from which he never fully recovers. He lives until 1858.
Oct. 15, 2000: About 1,800 people take part in Concord's leg of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The local event raises $157,000 for research.
Oct. 15, 2002: Concord High juniors get the news that their statewide test scores rose significantly in all four subjects on the test, with the most notable jumps in language arts and math. In an effort to boost scores during the testing period in May, the school adopted a controversial reward system for students who took the test. Rewards included bagels, yogurt and McDonald's apple pies.
Oct. 16, 1975: The Reagan for President campaign opens a headquarters at the New Hampshire Highway Hotel in Concord. Hotel owner Matthew Morton agrees to a temporary replacement of the wording on the huge sign atop the building from “Highway Hotel” to “Reagan for President,” creating an ostentatious precedent for future political candidates.
Oct. 16, 2001: Citing safety concerns relating to the Sept. 11 attacks, the Steeplegate Mall cancels its annual trick-or-treat night.
Oct. 17, 1908: Robert Abial “Red” Rolfe is born in Penacook. He will play baseball with the New York Yankees from 1934 to '42 and be hailed by many as the team's best third baseman ever. His career will bridge those of Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio. He will bat .293 lifetime and play in six World Series. After retiring as an active player, he will coach baseball and basketball at Yale, coach professionally in both sports, manage the Detroit Tigers and serve as athletic director at Dartmouth College.
Oct. 17, 1973: Concord officials meet to discuss ways to improve conditions on Concord Heights, after a $25,000 consultant points out: “There's no village center, no coherence, no meeting place. There's no there when you get there.”
Oct. 17, 1988: A developer announces plans for a shopping center on the edge of Concord's South End Marsh, an environmentally sensitive area. The project will not be built; other unsuccessful attempts to develop the area will follow.
Oct. 17, 2002: Jane Berwick, who has volunteered with the Concord Boys and Girls Club, the Capitol Center for the Arts, the United Way and the Kiwanis, among others, is named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce at the group's 83rd annual dinner in Concord.
