Aug. 31, 2002: A Massachusetts man and his 15-year-old son are rescued after becoming stranded on a cliff in Crawford Notch. According to authorities, the boy tries to free-climb Frankenstein Cliff without equipment but can’t get any farther after reaching 150 feet. The father tries to climb the cliff to rescue the son but only reaches 90 feet.
Aug. 31, 2001: In a decision that alters the juvenile justice system for some young offenders, the state’s Supreme Court rules that teens have a right to a jury trial if they face jail time. Because of this, judges across the state release a few of these inmates, whose incarcerations are suddenly unconstitutional.
Aug. 31, 1892: The statue of antislavery Sen. John P. Hale is completed outside the State House.
Aug. 31, 1899: For the first time, an automobile climbs Mount Washington. It is a Stanley Steamer. The driver is F.O. Stanley, who designed the car. No bumper stickers are available to mark the feat.
Sept. 1, 1964: The U.S. Census Bureau announces that New Hampshire has retained its national ranking in estimated population figures. With a population of 654,000, the state comes in 46th. Vermont is the only New England state with fewer people.
Sept. 1, 1939: Germany attacks Poland. The Concord Monitor’s lead editorial says: “We feel certain that try as hard as we may, we cannot stay out of the war if it is at all prolonged.”
Sept. 2, 1947: Plans to install the city’s first parking meters downtown draw the ire of Concord residents. “I will make one pledge. I never will put 10 cents into a meter in order to shop. I will park my car over on Concord Plains and walk in first,” writes Charles H. Nixon in a letter to the editor.
Sept. 3, 2003: The attorney general’s office announces that New Hampshire will join at least two other states in suing the Environmental Protection Agency for adopting a revision to the Clean Air Act that will allow the nation’s oldest power plants, refineries and other industrial facilities to upgrade without installing modern pollution controls.
Sept. 3, 1914: Richard F. Upton is born in Bow. He will become a prominent Concord lawyer and speaker of the New Hampshire House. In 1949, concerned with light voter turnout in previous New Hampshire presidential primaries, he will initiate legislation to make the process more meaningful. Long before his death in 1996, he will be known as the father of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary.
Sept. 4, 1971: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that a two-year study shows New Hampshire winds are so strong that they have shaken the Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch.
Sept. 5, 1905: The Russian-Japanese peace treaty is signed at Portsmouth.
Sept. 6, 2001: The state Supreme Court warns police departments that while not required by law, it is “good policy” to advise people that they have a right to refuse to consent to a warrantless search of their person of property. The court also sharply criticizes a Chesterfield police officer who failed to follow this procedure even after he illegally detained a black college student to search him for drugs without good reason.
Sept. 6, 1881: Bristol experiences what becomes known as the “Yellow Day.” A town history reports: “For several days previous, the smell of smoke had filled the air. The sun and sky were red in the early morning. As noon approached, this changed to a yello and everything to be seen, buildings, foliage and the sky, assumed the same shade. Lamps were necessary in dwellings and stores, cattle came to the barns as for the night and hens went to roost. In some instances, schools were dismissed. Two or three days passed before the atmosphere was a clear as usual.”
