100 years ago in Spokane: The city was chosen for a Shriners hospital for children after a generous donation from a local philanthropist

The Shriners’ national board ended the suspense and indicated that Spokane would indeed be the site of one of its regional children’s hospitals.

The sooner-than-expected decision came after the John A. Finch estate offered to donate $100,000 for the children’s orthopedic hospital.

The news got even better for Spokane. The Finch estate also pledged a similar amount to the American Red Cross for a general children’s hospital in the city.

The exact location of the hospitals were still to be determined, but the idea was that they would be adjacent to each other and served by one central heating plant.

“I firmly believe these hospitals will fill a great and long-felt want for Spokane and the surrounding territory,” said the general manager of the Finch estate.

Finch was a Spokane mining tycoon and businessman who died in 1915. He was a major philanthropic force while alive, and his estate continued that tradition after his death. His name lives on in Spokane in the John A. Finch Arboretum.

Also on this day

(From the Associated Press)

1942: “How Green Was My Valley” won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1941, beating out nine other films, including “The Maltese Falcon” and “Citizen Kane.”

1993: A truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.