icin EDITORIAL Sunday, May 13, 2012 5% § Joe Butkiewicz « EXECUTIVE EDITOR ; 8297249 jbutkiewicz@timesleader.com ~The Dallas Post www.mydallaspost.com a "Community Newspaper Group s! THE TIMES LEADER 16 N Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 ® 570-675-521 fin news@mydallaspost.com Diane McGee ADVERTISING 970-7153 dmcgee@timesleader.com Dotty Martin EDITOR 970-7440 dmartin@mydallaspost.com Auction volunteers are needed Commmiiy volunteers are neededifor the upcoming Back Mountain Memorial Library 2012 Auction. Volunteers of all ages (12 and up) have an opportunity to sup- port the library whether it is to assist. with setting up merchan- dise in tents prior to the auc- tion, hanging banners, staffing booths during the auction, di- recting traffic and parking and after the auction to do clean up. Set up dates are Sunday, July 1 through Tuesday, July 3. Auc- tion dates are Thursday, July 5 through Sunday, July 8. Post-auction cleanup will be on Monday, July 9. To volunteer or for more in- formation, contact Diana Berry, volunteer coordinator, at 675- 0167 or e-mail dlber- ry@epix.net. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel On May 10,1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet up in Promontory, Utah, making transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. Journeys that had taken months by wagon train or weeks by boat now took only days. * On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland, with 1,198 people drowned. It was later revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as justification for the attack. e On May 12,1925, a Philadelphia radio station broadcasts the first all-star radio program featuring film actors and actresses. Sound films had npt yet debuted, and the broadcast marked the first time that most listeners had heard the voices of film stars like Lillian Gish and Marion Davies. e On May 8,1933, the first police radio system, connecting head- quarters to patrol cars and patrol cars to one another, is installed in Eastchester Township, N.Y. The system consisted of one transmitter of 20 watts for the headquarters and two transmitters of 4.5 volts each forthe two patrol cars. e On May 13,1956, Gene Autry's musical variety show, “Gene Au- try’s Melody Ranch,” airs its final broadcast, after 16 years. The show featured 10- to 15-minute skits about cowboys and rustlers, along with musical numbers by Autry, “America’s singing cowboy.” * On May 9, 1960, the Food and Drug Administration approves the world's first commercially produced birth-control bill. Development of “the pill” was commissioned by birth-control pioneer Margaret San- ger and funded by heiress Katherine McCormick. e On May 1,198, reggae legend Bob Marley dies of cancer in \ Miami Beach, Fla. Marley, born in Jamaica in 1945, formed his band, the Wailers, In 1963. In the early 1970s, the band’s records began to catch on outside Jamaica, assisted by Eric Clapton's cover of “lI Shot the Sheriff." STRANGE BUT TRUE By Samantha Weaver e |t was Canadian author Saul Bellow who made the following sage observation: “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write." e The US. military has created self-cleaning underwear. Yep. It seems they wanted skivvies that soldiers could wear for several weeks without changing. Nanoparticles and chemicals in the fabric repel liguids.and bacteria. ¢, More books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than about any other American president - more than 15,000 to date. e |t is only to be assumed that Arabella Young, a Massachusetts woman who died in 1771, was considered to be a bit too talkative. Otherwise there would have been no need for the following epitaph: “Here lies as silent clay / Miss Arabella Young, / Who on the 21st of May /:Began to hold her tongue.” * Be glad that you did not have the misfortune to be in Bangla- desh during record storms in 1985. You might have been brained by the record hailstones, some weighing more than 2 pounds each. », You ‘might not be surprised to learn that among his Hollywood friends, screen legend and notorious drinker Humphrey Bogart was nicknamed Whiskey Straight. * The founders of the Arby's chain were a pair of brothers, Forest and Leroy Raffel. They wanted to name the original restaurant Big Tex, but found that the name was already owned by someone else. ers.