Sept. 14, 1909: The New Hampshire State Sanatorium on the side of Mt. Moosilauke admits its first tuberculosis patient – hopeful of benefiting from the mountain air, as are the thousands of patients who will follow. Known as the Glencliff Sanatorium, the state-run facility will serve its last patient in 1970. It is now the Glencliff Home for the Elderly.
Sept. 14, 1992: Outgoing U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman, a Republican from New Hampshire, and former senator Paul Tsongas, a Democrat from Massachusetts and winner of the New Hampshire primary seven months earlier, announce formation of the Concord Coalition. The group’s purpose: to reduce staggering federal budget deficits and rebuild the economy. Says Rudman: “The two political parties are unable to speak the truth.” Says Tsongas: “The people are ready for the truth.”
Sept. 15, 2000: In Sydney, Australia, Jenny Thompson of Dover breaks an 8-year-old Olympic record in a 100-meter butterfly preliminary race. A Dutch rival will swim even faster later in the day.
Sept. 15, 1900: A train wreck near Weirs Beach demolishes two locomotives and kills two men.
Sept. 15, 1983: WJYY radio in Concord takes to the airwaves for the first time. Politicians express delight at the new media outlet. “The more the better,” says Democrat Chris Spirou. “Someone might turn the dial and hear Chris Spirou talking!”
Sept. 16, 2001: Niels Nielson, the man who babied the Old Man of the Mountain for more than 30 years and ensured long life for the state’s most beloved landmark, dies at the age of 74.
Sept. 16, 1863: Samuel A. Duncan, Plainfield native, Dartmouth graduate and erstwhile major of the 14th New Hampshire infantry regiment, accepts command as colonel of the Fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment, Colored. The regiment is organizing in Baltimore, a city with Southern sympathies. A large crowd of disapproving citizens will turn out to watch the regiment’s first march through the streets, but the parade will pass without violence.
Sept. 17, 1967: The Mount Washington Cog Railway goes out of control and plunges into a gorge, killing eight passengers and injuring 74 others. A Public Utilities Commission investigation will decide that the accident occurred because the crew failed to notice an open switch. “The primary cause of the accident was human error,” the commission reports. The last previous death on the Cog Railway occurred in 1929.
Sept. 17, 1787: John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, New Hampshire’s delegates to the constitutional convention at Philadelphia, sign the U.S. Constitution.
Sept. 18, 2003: In a series of early-morning raids in Laconia, the police arrest nine people on multiple drug charges, wrapping up a one-year undercover operation in cocaine trafficking in the Lakes Region.
Sept. 18, 1679: King Charles II ordains that as of Jan. 1, 1680, New Hampshire will have its own government. He names John Cutt, a wealthy Portsmouth merchant, the first governor.
Sept. 19, 2000: A deal has been struck to keep Concord’s Sunnycrest Farms a working apple orchard, the Monitor reports. A grassroots coalition led by the orchard manager has worked out an agreement with the owner, provided the group can raise about $1 million.
Sept. 19, 1991: In a telephone interview with the Monitor, Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton says: “I can win New Hampshire.”
Sept. 20, 2001: The Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could define the public’s access to information recorded in state computers and redraw the parameters of New Hampshire’s Right-to Know law. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the defendant, states it could not retrieve records the plaintiff wanted due to the amount of time and money involved to grant the request. The plaintiff maintains documents that are public information on paper should still be public information in electronic form.
