Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 50 years ago

A float in the 1962 Lilac Festival-Armed Forces Parade featured a fire-breathing dragon – maybe a little too fire-breathing. 

The float actually caught fire about 90 minutes before the parade started. However, the Wenatchee Valley Junior College crew, which built the float, was able to extinguish the fire before it caused much damage. The float went on to win the Grand Sweepstakes Award. It featured a knight in shining armor challenging a huge dragon.

Other winners included the “Geiger Tigers” float, which featured mock tigers circling a globe, with the theme “Defense of All Races and All Creeds.”

The crowd was estimated at 80,000.

From the banking beat: The concept of “banker’s hours” was beginning to change. Two of Spokane’s largest commercial banks announced they would stay open until 6 p.m. on Fridays.

Yet another local bank president dismissed the idea, saying his customers “do not desire the change.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1921: Congress passed, and President Warren G. Harding signed, the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants. … 1964: The State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.