100 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 12, 1913
That the Green River watershed will require much cleansing before the water will be in any suitable condition for drinking purposes, was the substance of a report given to Mayor Seymour today by Robert Chestnut, chief of the Green River police. Despite bad weather conditions, Chestnut and his men have been busy two weeks attempting to find every source of contamination. Chestnut said he found several cases of typhoid at one of the logging camps. Steps have already been taken to wipe this out.
50 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 12, 1963
Tacoma felt its coldest Jan. 12 on record today as the thermometer dipped to 12 degrees and erased a 54-year-old daily weather mark. The 12-degree low temperature replaced in the Tacoma record book a 13-degree Jan. 12 reading in 1909. However, tonight’s forecast calls for “not quite so cold.” The forecast is for a low of 15 to 20 degrees with 10 in some outlying areas. The coldest days ever recorded in Tacoma were on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 of 1893 when the temperature slid to 5 degrees.
25 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 12, 1988
Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, a former Tacoman who was the most famous American fighter pilot of World War II and commander of the famed Black Sheep Squadron in the South Pacific, died Monday after a long battle against cancer. He was 75. The retired Marine colonel, whose heroics won him the Medal of Honor and inspired the television series “Black Sheep Squadron,” which was based on his autobiography, died in his sleep at the Nancy Hinds Hospice in Fresno, Calif. Tacoma had some claim to fame for the war hero, who was credited with downing 26 Japanese planes over China, including several as a pilot with the Flying Tigers before America entered World War II.
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