Dec 02
November 1942 would end with a series major news stories requiring big headline type. November 23, 1942 • American bombers sink a Japanese ship in Haiphong, Indo-China [Viet Nam]. • San Luis Obispo experienced butter and egg shortages. November 24, 1942 • The Soviet army launched an offensive that threatened the entire Nazi position along …
Nov 06
Digging a little deeper in the San Miguel history folders I found this Lura Rawson column. The town had even more boom and bust cycles than I originally thought. From the Telegram-Tribune May 31, 1990: San Miguel: Like its namesake, a survivor. In an earlier column, I called Mission San Miguel Archangel a survivor among …
Jan 16
A yellow biplane is a regular sight today off the coast of Pismo Beach but the coast’s aviation dates back over 100 years earlier. This picture postcard from the files of the Tribune has scrawled on the back in pencil instructions for publication – “2 col” and a few scant words of caption information. “Landed …
Jan 06
Seventy years ago San Luis Obispo County was changing in many ways into the place we know today. One army base was expanding and two new ones were being built. The navy was building in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo was paving the Mill Street district. A city job was lost when the gas …
Dec 26
Point Arguello has haunted the nightmares of ship captains and navigators for centuries. As recently as 1963, a 1500 ton freighter ran aground there. In 1923, twenty-three sailors were killed with seven U.S. Navy destroyers piled up on the rocks at Point Honda. In 1854 the Yankee Blade steam paddle ship was southbound carrying $153,000 …
Dec 23
In retrospect the original skipper was right. The captain of the Union Oil tanker Montebello did not want to leave Port San Luis. Sixteen days after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor rumors were running wild. Blackout drills were being held up and down the coast and false reports of enemy aircraft were not uncommon. …
Dec 19
December 8 — America, Britain, Canada, Free France, the Netherlands and six other countries declared war on Japan in the wake of coordinated attacks across the Pacific. Japanese attacks were reported in Thailand, British Malaya, Philippine Islands, Hong Kong, Guam, Midway and Wake Islands. The war declaration by Congress made no mention of the European …
Dec 06
At 1:05 p.m. the fire siren shrieked in San Luis Obispo calling all 40th Division soldiers back to Camp San Luis Obispo. The early morning attack over Pearl Harbor Hawaii plunged the West Coast into a frenzy of activity. A second attack was also reported at Manila. The then Telegram-Tribune published a Sunday Extra, likely …
Feb 06
If things went wrong, we were dead, along with everyone in sight around us. Isobutane is unforgiving. A liquid under pressure, it becomes a gas when the pressure is released, making it a fuel for camp stoves or cigarette lighters. At the scene of an isobutane train derailment in what was then Grover City on …
Dec 28
The Cal Poly community mourns the passing of former president Robert E. Kennedy. It is probably unfair to evaluate a 39-year career on one incident but if you are wondering why people remember faculty member-administrator-president of Cal Poly fondly, turn the clock back to spring of 1970. It was the worst time to be a …
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