Nov. 22, 1963: New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s schedule for a three-day campaign visit to New Hampshire is on the front page of the Monitor, but the trip will be canceled because of the lead story of the day: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Nov. 23, 2002: The Holiday Magic Parade, which has marked the beginning of the holiday season in Concord for 51 years, marches up Loudon Road in Concord. The procession includes emergency response vehicles, floats, decorated vehicles, equestrian units, clowns, eight marching bands and Santa Claus.
Nov. 23, 1911: The New Hampshire Historical Society dedicates its building in Concord. The building was designed by Guy Lowell, also architect of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and financed by philanthropist Edward Tuck. The society was previously housed on North Main Street in what are now the law offices of Gallagher, Callahan and Gartrell.
Nov. 23, 1814: On the U.S. House floor, a speech by Rep. Daniel Webster of New Hampshire is interrupted by news that Vice President Elbridge Gerry has died.
Nov. 24, 2003: In Manchester a jury rules in favor of tobacco giant Philip Morris in the case of a woman who blamed Marlboros for the lung cancer that killed her husband. It is the first tobacco case to go to trial in New Hampshire.
Nov. 24, 2001: Prosecutors encourage hikers to travel with a companion and use caution after a Canadian woman was found stabbed to death on Mount Washington.
Nov. 24, 1989: The temperature in Concord falls to 5 below zero, making this the coldest November day of the 20th century.
Nov. 24, 1736: Hopkinton is granted status as an independent township.
Nov. 24, 1812: The first inmate, John Drew of Meredith, is brought to Concord’s first state prison. The prison was built near Washington Street after legislative approval in 1810. During a visit to the city, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale, called it “a noble edifice in beautiful granite.” How Drew found it is not recorded. He was sentenced to four years for stealing a horse.
Nov. 25, 2000: Interviews in downtown Concord find the public tiring of the never-ending presidential election. Speaking for many of his fellow city dwellers, Jerry Slaughter tells the Monitor, “I think they should just decide so we can get on with our lives.”
Nov. 25, 1957: President Eisenhower suffers a “cerebral occlusion.” The problem affects his speech and once again thrusts his special assistant, former New Hampshire governor Sherman Adams, into greater responsibility.
Nov. 25, 1817: A fire consumes a large three-story house on Main Street in Concord. It will eventually be replaced by the Phenix Hotel.
Nov. 26, 2002: Attorney General Philip McLaughlin announced that New Hampshire will join eight other Northeastern states that plan to sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency for relaxing air quality standards, the Monitor reports.
Nov. 26, 2000: More than three-fifths of the state’s voting-age population cast ballots in this year’s election, Newsweek reports. Only four states did better: Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin and Vermont.
Nov. 26, 1845: Five hundred twenty-five turkeys mysteriously pass through the streets of Concord, one day before Thanksgiving.
Nov. 26, 1898: A giant snowstorm hits New Hampshire. Concord records 18 inches, Manchester two feet. “Along the coast the loss of life was appalling. More than 200 lives were lost and 200 vessels destroyed,” one local history reports.
Nov. 27, 2003: After missing for nearly three weeks, Mocha, a 14-year-old arthritic and nearly deaf chocolate Labrador retriever, has returned to her home in Contoocook, the Monitor reports. “It’s an appropriate time of year because we owe thanks to so many people,” said a jubilant Dawn Sanel, Mocha’s owner.
Nov. 27, 2002: The Diocese of Manchester must release internal information on several priests being sued for sexual misconduct, a superior judge rules. The documents were requested as part of several civil lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clergy abuse.
Nov. 27, 1817: Between 20 and 30 pet dogs throughout Concord are bitten by a dog with rabies. The rabid dog will be killed the next day.
Nov. 28, 1814: An earthquake rattles the Suncook River valley. “The villagers were all out viewing the stars and earnestly telling each other what they heard and how the shake appeared to them, all acting as if in a momentary expectation of another earth-shaker,” a Barnstead town history reports.
