25 years ago — 2001
LITTLE ROCK ‒ West Memphis School Supt. Bill Kessinger echoed the wishes of his fellow administrators Wednesday, endorsing the need for a statewide preschool education program. "We've got eight different elementary schools, and in kindergarten, the 5-year-olds come in at all different levels," Kessinger said. He was one of nine school superintendents questioned Wednesday by members of a school finance subcommittee of the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Commission on Education.
50 years ago — 1976
The County Court should reduce the salaries of its members from $800 a month to $600, Bill Thomas, a candidate for a vacant court seat, said yesterday. "My proposed pay cut would save the taxpayers of Shelby County $30,000 annually," Thomas said.
A pay cut for court members also would make it "difficult for the City Council to ask for a pay hike until the overall financial condition of Memphis and Shelby County improves," the candidate said.
75 years ago — 1951
The annual Memphis outdoor Christmas lighting contest was officially opened for entries yesterday with the announcement of two new divisions. Mrs. W.B. Fowler, chairman of the City Beautiful Commission, said a mechanical division and doorway division were added to assure a larger number of participants.
100 years ago — 1926
At the threshold of the social season and before it has really gotten under way, the season's debutantes will gather for their first public appearance in a group at the Lyceum Theater tonight and as guests of the management, they and their escorts will occupy the proscenium boxes.
From The CA's photo archive: Memphis in the 1970s
See what Memphis was like in the 1970s in the photo gallery below.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What was happening in Memphis history on Oct. 18? A look back through the years
