Out of the past 7/4/11

25 years ago: July 4, 1986

While the nation celebrates Independence Day with the re-lighting of Lady Liberty's torch in New York Harbor, no public celebrations of the holiday are held in the Cape Girardeau area.

A vacant rental house is gutted by fire during the night; the two-story house at 1405 Broadway, which was being torn down, had been burning about 20 minutes before it was discovered by neighbors.

50 years ago: July 4, 1961

Business suspends in Cape Girardeau in observance of the Fourth of July holiday; the annual American Legion picnic, which began yesterday afternoon, continues through the day at Arena Park; it includes midget auto races and an evening of spectacular fireworks.

Rush H. Limbaugh speaks in the morning at a rededication ceremony for the restored Civil War memorial fountain and bandstand in Courthouse Park; the program also includes the official presentation to the city and county of the new museum in Common Pleas Courthouse.

75 years ago: July 4, 1936

Cape Girardeau observes the Fourth of July holiday with a general suspension of business, closing of some manufacturing plants, city offices, banks, the post office and city offices.

The American Legion's annual picnic, feature of the Fourth of July celebration here, draws the largest crowd in the history of similar events; crowd estimates vary, but none of them run under 20,000.

100 years ago: July 4, 1911

About 500 people are aboard the steamer Cape Girardeau for its excursion trip to Cairo, Ill.; the day there is spent in sight seeing, one of the features being an exhibit of flying machines.

Jackson has a safe and sane Fourth of July; there are no public celebrations of any kind; in fact, a number of excursions to Illmo, Perryville, Mo., and Cairo, Ill., take a greater part of the inhabitants out of the city.

-- Sharon K. Sanders