Aug. 4, 1926: It is announced in Conco rd that Allen Hollis, a local lawyer and civic leader known as “The Kingfish,” will donate 11.9 acres on South Fruit Street and $5,000 toward a football field and other athletic facilities. The land will become Memorial Field.
Aug. 4, 1965: Concord begins celebrating its bicentennial with neighborhood fairs, a Bicentennial Queen pageant, badminton, water polo and tugs of war.
Aug. 5, 2003: The Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, 56, of Weare, makes history when the country’s Episcopal bishops vote 63-42 to make him the country’s first openly gay bishop.
Aug. 5, 1992: Former White House chief of staff John Sununu predicts reelection for President Bush over Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. “The polls right now are meaningless,” he says.
Aug. 6, 1812: At a convention in Brentwood, Federalist Daniel Webster presents a draft of a document he has written opposing the declaration of war that led to the War of 1812. The document establishes Webster’s belief in free trade and will lead to his nomination (and election) to Congress on the “Peace Ticket.”
Aug. 6, 1854: When President Franklin Pierce declines a besotted South Carolinian’s invitation to have a drink with him, the man berates the president and throws a hard-boiled egg at him. Pierce has the man arrested.
Aug. 6, 1777: Gen. John Stark and his New Hampshire militia reach Manchester, Vt., where Stark refuses orders from the regular army to march on to Saratoga, N.Y. His duty, Stark says, is to defend Vermont, thus defending New Hampshire.
Aug. 7, 2000: The state unveils its contribution to the country’s new set of quarters. George Washington remains on the “heads” side. On the “tails” side reposes the Old Man of the Mountain.
Aug. 7, 1856: Benjamin Chandler, age 75, becomes lost while hiking Mount Washington. Rescuers are unsuccessful, and his body will not be found until the following year. Years later, Chandler Ridge, Chandler Brook and the Chandler Brook Trail will be named in his memory.
Aug. 8, 2003: A fire erupts aboard a boat at Channel Marine in the Weirs, injuring two young men and a young woman with first- and second- degree burns. The fire starts when the three, employees of the marina, try to clean up gasoline that had spilled inside the cabin of a boat.
Aug. 8, 1861: After eight years and several failed efforts, the Mt. Washington Summit Co. completes the road up Mt. Washington. The road covers eight miles while rising 4,700 feet. The mountain’s peak is 6,288 feet above sea level.
Aug. 9, 1842: The Webster-Ashburton Treaty establishes New Hampshire’s border with Canada on the north and northwest. The total length of the border is 59.9 miles.
Aug. 9, 1887: A warehouse is damaged by fire in downtown Concord. “The losses were not heavy, but the fire was a memorable one form the fact that so many boys were injured in jumping from the windows,” the New Hampshire Patriot reports.
Aug. 10, 1737: A cavalcade of horses, coaches and carriages forms at Hampton Falls. The assemblies of Massachusetts and New Hampshire have come together to determine the border between the two colonies.
