1989 – 25 years ago
• Jim Fowler, host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, will be the featured guest for the ground breaking of the bear/wolf/bobcat exhibit at Oxbow Park. The exhibit will house the zoo's bear, two wolves, and a coyote and puma to be acquired later. Fowler will speak, sign autographs and turn the first shovelful of dirt.
• Merri Bremer, Miss Rochester, won a preliminary round of the talent competition during the first event of the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Pageant in Austin.
• The number of Rochester Youth Soccer Association players reached the 1,700 mark. The association was formed in 1975 with 160 players.
1964 – 50 years ago
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• The Spring Valley Methodist Memorial Church was named "Rural Church of the Year" at the Minnesota Annual Conference of the Methodist Church meeting at Hamline University.
• Family swimming sessions will begin at the John Marshall High School pool. Fees are 35 cents for adults, 20 cents for high school students and 10 cents for those under 14.
• The American College Test (ACT) will be given this Saturday at Coffman Hall. Taking this test is required by high school graduates for admission to Rochester Junior College, the University of Minnesota and many other colleges.
1939 – 75 years ago
• The Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota adopted a resolution in memory of Dr. Charles H Mayo, paying tribute to his career as a surgeon, scientist and public benefactor and conveying sympathy to members of his family. Copies are being sent to Mrs. Mayo, his son, Dr. Charles W. Mayo, and the brother Dr. William J. Mayo, who is a member of the university board but is confined at his Rochester home while recovering from an operation.
• A tornado struck Anoka yesterday killing nine, injuring 200 and damaging over 250 homes. Gov. Harold Stassen has called on the Red Cross and National Guard for assistance.
From news services
Ten years ago: The U.S. military stepped up its campaign against militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, launching an airstrike that pulverized a suspected hideout in Fallujah. President George W. Bush told Americans in his weekly radio address that the economy was growing stronger and more jobs were being created despite Democrats' claim he'd presided over a downturn for the country.
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Five years ago: New York Times reporter David S. Rohde (rohd) and Afghan reporter Tahir Ludin escaped from militant captors after more than seven months in captivity in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was indicted and jailed on charges his international banking empire was really just a Ponzi scheme built on lies, bluster and bribery. (Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison after being convicted of bilking investors in a $7.2 billion scheme that involved the sale of fraudulent certificates of deposits.)
One year ago: Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban. President Barack Obama, speaking in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, pledged to cut deployed U.S. nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia did the same. Actor James Gandolfini, 51, died while vacationing in Rome. Country singer Slim Whitman, 90, died in Orange Park, Florida.
Today's birthdays: Pop singer Tommy DeVito (The Four Seasons) is 86. Actress Gena Rowlands is 84. Hall of Fame race car driver Shirley Muldowney is 74. Singer Spanky McFarlane (Spanky and Our Gang) is 72. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (soo chee) is 69. Author Salman Rushdie is 67. Actress Phylicia Rashad is 66. Rock singer Ann Wilson (Heart) is 64. Musician Larry Dunn is 61. Actress Kathleen Turner is 60. Country singer Doug Stone is 58. Singer Mark DeBarge is 55. Singer-dancer Paula Abdul is 52. Actor Andy Lauer is 51. Rock singer-musician Brian Vander Ark (Verve Pipe) is 50. Actress Mia Sara is 47. Rock musician Brian "Head" Welch is 44. Actor Jean Dujardin is 42. Actress Robin Tunney is 42. Actor Bumper Robinson is 40. Actress Poppy Montgomery is 39. Alt-country singer-musician Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers) is 38. Actor Ryan Hurst is 38. Actress Zoe Saldana is 36. Actress Lauren Lee Smith is 34. Rapper Macklemore (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis) is 31. Actor Paul Dano is 30. Actor Atticus Shaffer is 16.
