Oct. 20, 2003: Berlin records the national low temperature at -15 degrees.
Oct. 20, 1989: The 57-year-old Johnny Cash fills the Capitol Theatre in Concord for two performances. His humble demeanor and his repertory, heavy on gospel, trains, fisticuffs, simple justice and simple pieties, bring down the house.
Oct. 20, 1987: Concord Mayor Jim MacKay tells the Monitor that Gov. John H. Sununu has offered him a deal. Sununu is Vice President George Bush’s main man in New Hampshire. If MacKay will support Bush’s bid for the Republican nomination, Sununu will help the city solve a parking problem near the high school, MacKay says. In the story in the paper the next day, MacKay takes back his comments, characterizing them as offhand and inaccurate.
Oct. 21, 2002: Concord City councilors vote to change Concord’s housing policy to support construction of affordable housing projects as well as the rehabilitation of available units. Councilor Bill McGonagle says “I think approval of this amendment this evening is one small step in the right direction.”
Oct. 22, 1987: After passing through a small crowd bearing signs reading “Run, Don, Run,” and “New Hampshire Needs Trump,” real estate magnate Donald Trump tells the Portsmouth Rotary: “This country is in trouble. It needs strength, competence and intelligence.” But he adds: “I am not a candidate for president.”
Oct. 23, 1890: A statue of John Stark is dedicated outside the State House.
Oct. 24, 2002: Democratic candidate Mark Fernald uses his final debate against Republican Craig Benson, broadcast live on WMUR, to make a last stand for the income tax. “We have a state to run, we have children to educate, and it costs money, and we should do it in a way that’s fair,” Fernald says. “I don’t think a property tax is fair.”
Oct. 24, 1805: The first Quaker meeting is held in Concord. It will be 10 years before a Quaker meeting house goes up on what is now the State House plaza.
Oct. 24, 1852: News of Daniel Webster’s death at Marshfield, Mass., reaches Concord at 2:38 p.m. Bells toll and flags are lowered to half-staff. At a memorial service the next day Gen. Franklin Pierce, just days before his election to the presidency, will be the principal speaker. Of Webster, Pierce will say: “The great heart of the nation throbs heavily at his grave.”
