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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Milwaukee Road freight train and an Inland passenger train collided at McGuires, Idaho, near today’s Post Falls, injuring 32 people. The passenger train hit the loaded freight train at a crossing.

Most of the injuries were minor, but six people were being treated at Sacred Heart Hospital for contusions, sprains and cuts.

From the nap time file: A 4-year-old in Walla Walla decided he was tired, so he stretched out near some weeds and took a nap – on the streetcar track.

The motorman said the toddler was hidden from his sight until the last minute, but the driver “managed to stop the car just as the fender touched the baby.” The boy suffered only a slight scalp wound.

From the fireworks beat: The region’s annual fireworks mayhem began with an accident in Salem, Oregon. A 6-year-old made the classic mistake of picking up a firecracker to see why it hadn’t exploded. It badly burned his face.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1890: Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union.

1985: The time-travel comedy “Back to the Future,” starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, was released.

1988: The USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.