50 years ago in Expo history: Banner on Clocktower counts down days till World’s Fair end

The Great Northern Clocktower was once again “in use as a citywide bulletin board.”

A banner showed the number of days left until Expo ’74 was set to close.

Spokane residents were accustomed to seeing big numbers emblazoned across the tower. Back in spring, the Clocktower displayed how many days were left until the opening.

In other Expo news, The Spokesman-Review reported that a man caught at least two good-sized trout, right in the middle of the Expo site. He was fishing off the Howard Street Bridge.

His bait? Bread.

From 100 years ago: The Spokane County prosecutor was investigating charges of graft and protection rackets in connection with Mica Peak moonshine operations.

“Many persons,” including a number of previous offenders, were called into the prosecutor’s office for questioning.

The investigation stemmed from a Spokane Chronicle exposé a day earlier that alleged Mica Peak was the center of the region’s moonshine industry. Those stories said that Mica Peak was full of hidden moonshine stills and crawling with armed bootleggers.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1924: U.S. President Calvin Coolidge declares the Statue of Liberty a national monument.

1966: The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California.

1971: The world’s first arcade video game Computer Space, developed by Syzygy, is first demonstrated at the MOA Show in the U.S.