Nov. 5, 1996: Jeanne Shaheen defeats Ovide Lamontagne to become the state’s first female governor.
Nov. 5, 1996: For the first time ever, Concord elects an all-female delegation to the State House. The members: Reps. Carol Burney, Jean Wallin, Mary Stuart Gile, Gloria Seldin, Liz Hager, Carol Moore, Toni Crosby, Marilyn Fraser, Katherine Rogers, Tara Reardon, Miriam Dunn, Mary Jane Wallner, Betty Hoadley and Sen. Sylvia Larsen.
Nov. 5, 1991: While acting as a commentator on the local cable channel as the city election results are being counted, Concord Mayor Jim MacKay learns that he has been defeated for re-election to the city council.
Nov. 6, 2001: Mike Donovan beats Jim O’Neill in Concord’s mayoral election in a sweep of all 10 wards. The tally is 3,537 to 2,126.
Nov. 6, 1947: The Concord Monitor’s editorial writer expresses disbelief at voters’ rejection of a plan to build a man-made lake. “The Concord Lake proposal had been developed out of the soundest methods of government administration now known. Known advantages of the plan far outweighed disadvantages. In spite of all this, Concord said ‘No.’”
Nov. 6, 1907: By a count of 2,281-2,034, Concord voters decide to stop licensing saloons and ban them. The measures will take effect May 1, 1908.
Nov. 6, 1900: Concord Mayor Nat Martin, a local lawyer who made his name closing saloons, is defeated for re-election. He angered voters by trying to have it both ways – busting some backroom bars under the state’s 45-year-old prohibition statute while permitting other “clubs” to serve liquor.
Nov. 7, 2001: Concord parking enforcers give out the first boot, a metal lock that fits over a car’s wheel and prevents the vehicle from moving unless removed. It has been three months since the city announced that it would boot any car whose owner owed more than $100 in parking tickets.
Nov. 8, 1983: On his eighth try, longtime city gadfly Bob Schweiker is elected to the Concord School Board. Even he is surprised by the vote. “I really expected to lose,” he says.
Nov. 8, 1844: The local Columbian artillery turns out on Sand Hill in Concord to fire off a salute to the election of James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. As the cannon is being loaded, an explosion badly injures John L. Haynes, an officer in the unit. The explosion blows of Haynes’s left arm and shatters the bones in his right arm.
Nov. 9, 2002: The Concord High girls’ cross country team, already owners of the Class L and State Meet titles, adds a mud-caked New England championship to its cache in Portland, Maine.
Nov. 10, 2003: The Concord City Council votes to put an automated trash plan on hold until exact cost estimates are available.
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. 11, 2000: For the first time in school history, the Concord High girls’ cross country team wins the New England Championships.
Nov. 11, 1965: The Douglas N. Everett Arena opens in Concord.
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, 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, 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.
