50 years ago in Expo history: Reviewers rave about John Denvers shows at Coliseum

John Denver performed two-sold out Expo ’74 shows at the Coliseum – one of which began at midnight! – and The Spokesman-Review critic opined that “maybe John Denver should be the official symbol of Expo ’74.”

For one thing, his songs were about “clean air, fresh water and tall mountains,” matching the fair’s environmental theme.

For another, Denver and his music “represent what’s right with America.”

The Chronicle reviewer agreed, calling Denver “a spokesman for his time.”

“He initially described the cavernous Coliseum as a “small aircraft depository,’ but filled the place masterfully with beautiful sights and sounds,” the Chronicle said.

From 100 years ago: A game of tennis northwest of Grand Forks, just over the border in British Columbia, resulted in a lucrative find.

Two men were playing tennis on their makeshift tennis court when they noticed “a small knob of rock,” marring the surface.

They knocked it off with a hammer and uncovered “a body of metal that shone like a tin can in the sunlight.”

A subsequent dig uncovered a rich silver vein, worth $13,000 to date.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party at height of McCarthyism.

1989: Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling.

1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the USSR Communist Party.