Jim Kershner’s This Day in History

From our archives, 50 years ago

A crowd estimated at 75,000 lined the downtown streets for a particularly chilly 1960 Grand Lilac Festival-Armed Forces Parade.

The temperature hit 34 the night before, and it was still brisk at the 10 a.m. parade start. Wind, rain, hail and even a little snow failed to keep the crowds away.

Two teenage girls in the Job’s Daughters Bethel 12 float adapted to the situation by wearing wool slacks, “thermo-knits” and trimmed-down sweatshirts under their gowns.

The parade featured 140 units, including 53 floats and 43 marching bands.

From the civil rights beat: Students at Whitworth College and Eastern Washington College announced they would hold “sympathy demonstrations in support of students involved in recent Negro sit-ins in southern cities.”

The local students planned to wear black ribbons in solidarity with students arrested in the sit-ins. Proceeds from the sale of the ribbons would be used for legal defense.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1881: Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. … 1927: Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 331/2 hours.