This day in history: Spokane woman was among first women nominated to West Point. Dozens of bootleggers were sentenced.

From 1976: Among the 75 Spokane applicants to the nation’s military academies, 15 were women.

“This is the first time we’ve had any women,” said a special assistant to U.S. Rep. Tom Foley.

The applicants had gathered at the Ridpath Hotel for interviews by a selection board.

Foley was authorized to make one appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, one to the Air Force Academy, two to Annapolis and 10 for further evaluation by the Merchant Marine.

Two months later, Foley would announce that he had nominated Kathryn A. Wildey of Spokane to West Point. She would go on be part of the first West Point class to include women, and she graduated in 1980.

From 1926: “Never before in the history of the federal court here has swift justice been given to so many liquor offenders,” said a Spokane federal court clerk.

Dozens of guilty verdicts – all resulting from a massive federal Prohibition raid in downtown Spokane a month earlier – were handed down. Only two not-guilty verdicts were brought in.

If you added up the jail sentences for every offender, the total equaled 4,242 days and one hour. That sole one-hour sentence was given to a Fort Wright soldier, who was found to be merely “a dupe” for a notorious bootlegger. The soldier was busted from sergeant to private because of the arrest, and the judge apparently thought he had been punished enough.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1848: James Marshall finds gold in Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California.