Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Onlookers on North Monroe Street were treated to a head-shaking sight: A 4-year-old tyke, escaping at a high speed from a police wagon.

The last thing that officers saw was the little fellow “beating it up the pavement in record time.” He soon vanished around a corner.

He was one of three young miscreants who had been discovered in a burglarized bicycle repair shop. The owner showed up that evening and found the door pried open and kids in the shop. He grabbed the two 6-year-olds and the 4-year-old and held them until police arrived.

As the police were loading the two 6-year-olds into the police wagon, the “sight of the big, black patrol wagon was too much for the youthful nerves” of the 4-year-old. So he skedaddled.

The 6-year-olds were turned over to juvenile authorities, but police said they probably weren’t going to charge them. Bigger boys had apparently pried open the shop door. The tiny trio had probably been lured in by the bigger boys, who escaped before the shop owner could catch them.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1981: IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150, in New York. The 5150 that was presented had an Intel 8088 microprocessor running at 4.77 MHz, 16 kB of RAM, no disk drives, and a price tag of $1,565.