Tidbits, Oct. 18

Chief Joe TV

Chief Joseph Community Services upgraded last fall to broadcast digital signals for nine channels, requiring customers to have a UHF antenna to view the channels, along with a converter box if a television set is analog.

"We encourage you to continue paying your annual dues of $30, and ask that you encourage your neighbors to do so as well," reads a letter from Chief Joseph Community Services. The letter states that dues help pay for insurance, electricity and equipment maintenance.

"We apologize for the occasional loss of TV signals. We get our signals from Omak and they have had some weather-related problems this year," the letter states. "Let me again take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support."

Questions, comments or concerns can be directed to Secretary/Treasurer Lew Gipe at 689-2097 or President Tracy Zahn at 686-2510.

This day in history - Oct. 18

1469: Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabella of Castile. The marriage united all the dominions of Spain and produced Catherine of Aragon, the first of the famous six wives of King Henry VIII of England. In 1478, Ferdinand and Isabella introduced the Spanish Inquisition, a powerful and brutal force of homogenization in Spanish society.

1767: The Mason-Dixon line was agreed upon. It was the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

1842: Samuel Finley Breese Morse laid his first telegraph cable.

1867: The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia. The land was purchased of a total of $7 million dollars (2 cents per acre).

1892: The first long-distance telephone line between Chicago, IL, and New York City, NY, was opened.

1898: The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico only one year after the Caribbean nation won its independence from Spain.

1929: The Judicial Committee of England's Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada.

1931: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.

1962: President John F. Kennedy recorded his impression of the day's meetings regarding the recently discovered presence of Soviet ballistic missiles on the island of Cuba. The ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis brought America to the brink of nuclear war.

1968: The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.

1997: A monument honoring U.S. servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.

Want to contribute?

Suggestions for what to put in our Tidbits column are always welcome. E-mail Jennifer at reporter2@qcherald.com, call 689-2507 or stop by our office at 525 W. Main Ave. in Brewster.