Aug. 13, 1852: The tallest flagpole in New Hampshire history is erected in the State House yard, put up to celebrate Franklin Pierce’s nomination by the Democrats to be president. It is 143 feet tall, higher than the State House dome. First flown is an emblem with pictures of Pierce and Sen. Rufus de Vane King of Alabama, his running mate.
Aug. 13, 1975: Edward Bennett, the state’s economic development director, sues Union Leader publisher William Loeb over an editorial in which Loeb accused Bennett of being “one of a group who associated with inpiduals who yearned to foment a Communist revolution.” The suit will be settled out of court more than three years later for an undisclosed amount.
Aug. 13, 2000: With Verizon’s union workers on strike, the telephone company’s managers take a turn responding to customers’ repair calls. “We know the lingo and the theory,” says Erle Pierce, a manager in the public relations department. “But actually doing it is a different thing.”
Aug. 14, 1945: The victory bell rings at 7:11 p.m., signaling the defeat of Japan and the end of the war. Thousands of people rush into downtown Concord to celebrate peace. One planned event is an “o so joyful Hara Kiri parade.” Children in kimonos carry parasols down Main Street, vying for $1 prizes for the best costumes. Also in the parade is an overturned canoe labeled “Jap Navy.” A man standing atop a Main Street building gaily fires a 10-gauge shotgun again and again.
Aug. 14, 2001: Appeasing an upset crowd at its meeting and clearing the way for the Tilton Inn’s grand opening, the planning board dismisses its previous suggestion that the new owners provide parking. The decision halts the demolition of a Main Street building the owners had planned to tear down and replace with a parking lot.
Aug. 14, 2002: In a raucous debate, all three Republican candidates for governor promise to roll back gay rights, restrict access to abortion if given the chance and curtail the power of the judiciary to decide police matters. Gordon Humphrey, Craig Benson and Bruce Keough also pledge to pass legislation to replace the state supreme court’s new House redistricting plan.
Aug. 15, 1864: Steam whistles and cannon herald the opening of Capitol Street along the south side of the State House grounds. A month earlier, the Legislature voted that if the street was not constructed by this day, it would move the capital.
Aug. 15, 2000: Aurangzeb Khan of Pakistan, believed to be the tallest man alive, spends the night at the Hampton Inn in Bow. On tour with the Sterling and Reid Bros. Circus, Khan stands 8 feet tall and weighs 380 pounds.
Aug. 15, 2003: Speaking at a rally at the State House plaza in Concord, local environmentalists and public health advocates condemned President George Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative and called upon the state’s congressional delegation to oppose it, the Monitor reports.
Aug. 16, 1843: A severe gale accompanied by torrents of rain destroys a large elm tree in the State House yard. The tree is 20 inches in diameter at its base. The wind breaks it off 20 feet above the ground.
Aug. 16, 1978: Gov. Mel Thomson says he has “irrefutable proof” that communists were involved in the June 24 anti-nuclear power demonstration at the Seabrook construction site – and urges Congress to investigate.
Aug. 16, 1982: The Concord City Council votes to maintain its ban on overnight parking. And it refuses to increase the number of exemptions allowed to inpidual residents. “I see it as creating a crime problem,” warns Councilor Kenneth Jordan.
Aug. 17, 1809: An immense fire near the present-day Fayette Street in Concord destroys Timothy Chandler’s clock factory, along with barns, outbuildings, a shop and a home.
Aug. 18, 1778: Concerned about the administration of the war effort, Dr. Josiah Bartlett writes from Congress in Philadelphia to John Langdon in New Hampshire: “I am sorry to say our Treasury, Marine & Commercial Affairs are in a very bad situation owing to their being conducted by members of Congress who can spare but little of their time to transact them.” After nearly three years in Congress, Bartlett will soon return home and take a leadership role in military and civil affairs in his home state.
Aug. 18, 1999: The Executive Council denies a pardon hearing request from a convicted murderer who says, after 23 years in prison, he is a changed and repentant man.
Gary Farrow, 43, is serving a life sentence for the 1976 murder of 19-year-old Michael Stitt of Laconia, whose body was found lying behind a state liquor store in Concord.
Aug. 19, 1863: With the Union armies in need of more soldiers, Concord takes part in the draft. Of 924 names placed in a turning wheel, the city’s quota of 277 is drawn. The city will pay each man a bonus of $300.
Aug. 19, 1875: Birth of H. Maitland Barnes, who will grow up to be choirmaster and organist at St. Paul’s Church in Concord. He will also start the custom of singing Christmas carols to prison inmates and hospital patients across Concord with his choir boys.
