100 YEARS AGO TODAY
February 28, 1913
In a collision between a Tacoma Eastern train and a city-bound Bismark streetcar at Midland crossing this morning, Mrs. Samuel Barrett of Puyallup was seriously shocked and bruised, Samuel Barrett, her husband, was slightly hurt, and a score of street railway passengers were jarred and thrown to the floor as the heavy locomotive hurled the electric car to one side of the tracks against a telegraph pole. Glass was shattered and cut a number of passengers. The street car was inbound under charge of Motorman Wood and Conductor Trippett.
50 YEARS AGO TODAY
February 28, 1963
President John F. Kennedy appealed to a divided Congress today to reinforce the black citizen’s right to vote and to attend desegregated schools in a nation where he said “the cruel disease of discrimination” still exists nearly everywhere. For the first time, in a special message, Kennedy outlined a specific civil rights program to Congress. In addition to legislation directed at the ballot and the schoolhouse, he asked for an extension of the life of the Civil Rights Commission, with expanded duties.
25 YEARS AGO TODAY
February 28, 1988
When the 50,000 or so people fill St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Rome, for Lenten Mass next Sunday, they will hear more than the words of Pope John Paul II. The voices of about 24 choir members from St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Lakewood will echo from the walls of the world’s largest church. “Oh yes, it’s probably one of our biggest performances,” choir director Bob Littler said, chuckling. “To sing in Rome, in the biggest church in the world. It’s a very big deal.” A big deal indeed for the small, volunteer choir from a parish of roughly 2,100 people. And it’s a big project to arrange such a performance.
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