Tagged: This Not Just In

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge that connected Seattle to Mercer Island sank to the bottom of Lake Washington 22 years ago this weekend.

Here in the Evergreen State, there’s something peculiar about bridges and windstorms.  Take the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge back in November 1940. Bad design doomed that span from the start and earned the bridge an appropriate nickname.  “Galloping Gertie” was blown down in a gale just four months after it opened.

On November 24, 1971, a man who is referred to as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 on a flight between Portland, Oregon and Seattle. He extorted $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted from the plane. A look back at the hijacking which has become legendary in the Pacific Northwest and the rest of America.

Dave Niehaus was the “Voice of the Seattle Mariners.” His sudden and unexpected death on November 10, 2010 from a heart attack was more than just a sports story. The news hit people hard. Niehaus was part of the cultural fabric of the Pacific Northwest, a role he played since the time he called the first pitch at the first Mariners game back in 1977.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Wells' infamous "War of the Worlds" broadcast across the nation.  Fake news of a Martian landing fooled a lot of people on the East Coast, especially around New Jersey, where phony live reports described the alien landing site. But the most infamous panic of all didn't happen in the East. And it wasn't just a single person. It was an entire town, and it happened right here in Washington state.