50 years ago in Expo history: Kid falls from Skyride, scampers off uninjured

An unidentified youth fell from Expo ’74’s Skyride – a chairlift that spanned the fairgrounds – and ran away, apparently unharmed.

Witnesses said he was just above the Washington Street bridge when he fell out of the chair, plunged through a net designed to catch trash, and fell another 20 feet to the curb lane of Washington Street.

Then he “jumped up, climbed over a fence” and ran off, “shaking his wrists as if they hurt.”

Meanwhile, the arrival of a team of 25 Soviet Union ice skaters was delayed, forcing cancellation of two of their five performances. The other three performances were expected to take place as scheduled.

Another Expo event was rescheduled, the Expo ’74 Rodeo. The dates were changed to July 11-14, so that the winners of the Calgary Stampede could be flown down daily to participate.

In other Expo news, attendance stayed strong, despite cool and wet weather. The total attendance through the fair’s second weekend was 286,846, well above projections.

From 100 years ago: A fire swept through the community of Spokane Bridge, 18 miles east of the city on the Spokane River, destroying two homes, two barns and a garage.

The owner of the buildings, J.P. Centers, was badly burned. A local undertaker administered first aid to Centers at the scene, but he refused to go to a hospital.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1861: Queen Victoria announces Britain’s position of neutrality during the U.S. Civil War.