Nov. 10, 1854: Concord’s Unitarian Church is destroyed by fire.
Nov. 10, 1995: The refurbished Capitol Center for the Arts reopens on South Main Street. The opening show features folkies John Sebastian, Jonathan Edwards, Janis Ian and New Hampshire’s own Tom Rush.
Nov. 10, 2003: The Concord City Council votes to put an automated trash plan on hold until exact cost estimates are available.
Nov. 11, 1874: Meeting in Concord’s Eagle Hall, a crowd of 100 women form the New Hampshire Women’s Temperance League. The first president is Mrs. Nathaniel White of Concord.
Nov. 11, 1909: The last major branch of Concord’s trolley system opens. The 1.55-mile route will be known as the Sunset Loop. It runs up Centre Street from Main to Washington, then White, then on to Franklin Street and back to Main. The city’s trolleys are serving 1.2 million passengers a year.
Nov. 11, 1965: The Douglas N. Everett Arena opens in Concord.
Nov. 11, 1975: Gov. Mel Thomson makes a surprise visit to the state prison to sample the food after the prisoners stage a hunger strike over the quality of prison chow and other issues. His judgment: “We don’t have anything better than this at the Bridges House.” His wife, Gale, insists she’s not insulted.
Nov. 11, 2000: For the first time in school history, the Concord High girls’ cross country team wins the New England Championships.
Nov. 12, 1818: A newly discharged convict from the state prison enters the State House and steals the keys to most of the doors. He is quickly arrested.
Nov. 12, 1885: Ten women in their late teens and early 20s form the Flower Mission, whose purpose is to deliver flowers to Concord hospitals and homes for the aged. The mission survives to this day.
Nov. 12, 1941: After spending three days in the country with Winston Churchill, John G. Winant of Concord, U.S. ambassador to Britain, writes a five-page memo to Franklin D. Roosevelt outlining three scenarios Churchill has posed. The worst: Japan enters the war against Britain, but the United States stays out. Better: Neither country enters the war. Best: The United States enters the war, but Japan doesn’t. Less than a month later, Pearl Harbor will put a fourth scenario into effect.
Nov. 12, 2000: Concord High routs longtime nemesis Londonderry, 53-8, advancing to the state Division I football championship. The win ends a streak of lopsided defeats the Tide had recently suffered at the hands of Londonderry. Concord will go on to win the state title in equally convincing fashion, defeating Manchester Central, 38-0.
Nov. 12, 2002: In a meeting with Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Fish and Game Department Director Wayne Vetter, State Attorney General Philip McLaughlin recommends that the governor and Executive Council fire Vetter over sexual harassment allegations. “I have concluded that Mr. Vetter had engaged in behavior which demonstrates that he is unfit to perform his duties,” McLaughlin wrote in a petition to Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and the council.
Nov. 12, 2003: Concord’s Luke Bonner, a senior and basketball star at Trinity High School in Manchester, signs his national letter of intent to play for West Virginia.
Nov. 13, 2001: Concord City Manager Duncan Ballantyne outlines two options for dealing with the Sears block project, the city’s biggest and most important project in limbo. The city can meet with Hodges Development Corp. or they can proceed with demolition.
Nov. 14, 1861: A fire at Main and School streets, the fourth major fire of the year in downtown Concord, destroys a harness factory, a shoe store, the gas-light company offices and homes.
Nov. 14, 1963: Visiting Concord, Mrs. Eddy M. Peterson, assistant chairman of the Republican National Committee, says she is excited about the prospect of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith running for president. Nevertheless, Peterson adds, “I don’t think the women of America are ready to see a woman candidate for president yet. I think the women are even less ready than the men.”
Nov. 14, 2000: State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Brock hears oral arguments for the first time since being cleared in a Senate impeachment trial. The day’s session includes no mention of the episode.
Nov. 14, 2001: DCYF, the state agency in charge of abused and neglected children doesn’t do enough to get and keep foster families, visit children in their temporary homes, monitor case workers or track state spending on foster care, according to a recent legislative audit, the Monitor reports.
Nov. 15, 1974: Attorney General Warren Rudman says he has found no evidence that Gov. Mel Thomson delayed the “hot dots” safety program to aid his successful re-election campaign. Richard Leonard, the unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate had charged during the campaign that Thomson used the program as a political advertisement. The program, which cost $12,000, includes reflective patches designed to be worn on children’s clothing to make them more visible after dark.
Nov. 15, 1978: The Monitor reports that Concord is about to hire Jim Smith away from Berlin as city manager. “He’s a good solid choice,” says Councilor Rod Tenney. Smith will come to Concord after the first of the year and remain in the job for more than 13 years.
Nov. 15, 1991: Former California governor Jerry Brown, running for president, tells the Monitor he sees a decline in educational standards. “Between MTV and the Great Books there is a gap,” he says.
Nov. 15, 2001: After a request by Ward 3 City Councilor Andy Tarbell, a recount confirms that Kipp Cooper has won the seat, by 263-260. The original count was 262-260.
Nov. 16, 1861: After several devastating fires in the city in preceding months, a committee under Concord Mayor Moses Humphrey releases a study recommending that a steam fire engine replace the hand pumper stationed on Warren Street near Main.
Nov. 16, 2000: A federal judge in Concord upholds the right of an Internet company to refuse to register profane Web site addresses as it sees fit. The company was sued by a woman who claimed her First Amendment rights had been violated.
