50 years ago in Expo history: South Carolina’s governor was no match for a baby tiger and ocelot when it came to crowd-pleasing

A 2-week-old tiger and an infant ocelot upstaged a governor at Expo ’74.

South Carolina Gov. John C. West was present for South Carolina Day at the fair, and he got his share of applause in a speech at the Boeing International Amphitheater.

But the true star of the day was Misty, a “coquettish” Siberian tigress in the Vanishing Species Pavilion, who “bats her eyes” when being fed with a bottle by a white-coated attendant.

“After her bottle, she likes to suck the finger (or thumb) of her attendant as she drifts off for a catnap,” The S-R reported.

A 3-week-old ocelot (apparently unnamed) also “made sure the tiny Siberian temptress next door doesn’t get all the attention.”

From 100 years ago: The famous University of Washington crew stopped in Spokane on the way to Poughkeepsie, New York, to defend its national collegiate rowing championship.

During a rail stopover in Spokane, the coach had them do a couple of sprints “up and down the station platform,” to keep them in shape.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1621: Former Lord Chancellor of England Francis Bacon is imprisoned for corruption in the Tower of London.

1634: The colony of Massachusetts Bay annexes the colony of Maine.

1790: The U.S. copyright law is enacted.

1885: John Harvey Kellogg, of Battle Creek, Michigan, files an application for the patent for “flaked cereal, and process of making same,” controversially excluding his younger brother Will Keith Kellogg.