10 years ago

From the Journal Tribune: “Frustrated with the lack of school choices for their middle school students, more than a dozen Arundel parents met with School Administrative District 71 Superintendent Tom Farrell last week to discuss options for sending their children to the Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport school system. In November of 2004, the Arundel School Board District signed a 10-year-contract with Thornton Academy, agreeing to send all sixth, seventh and eight graders to the public/private school. Their wish was to establish continuity in their child’s education as opposed to attending three school districts – Mildred Day School in Arundel, Thornton Academy Middle School and Kennebunk High School.”

50 years ago

From the Biddeford-Saco Journal: “The members of Saco Brownie Troop 695 were hostesses to their fathers during the troops first father-daughter banquet held last night at the Saco parish house, School street, of the Unitarian Universalistic Church of Saco and Biddeford. Gifts of appreciation on behalf of the troop were presented to Mrs. Shaffer, the leader and Miss Pendleton.”

100 years ago

From the Biddeford Daily Journal: “Irving and Walter Boothby of Saco are trying out a gasoline tractor on their farm on the outer Portland road and report success in plowing and harrowing, also in hauling a manure spreader. This is probably the first instance of the use of a tractor for such purposes or possible for any purpose in Saco or Biddeford.”

— Krysteana Scribner

Today in History

Today is Friday, June 3, the 155th day of 2016. There are 211 days left in the year.

On this date: In 1808, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was born in Christian County, Kentucky. In 1888, the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner. In 1924, author Franz Kafka, 40, died near Vienna. In 1937, Edward, The Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson in a private ceremony in Monts, France. In 1963, Pope John XXIII died at age 81; he was succeeded by Pope Paul VI. In 1992, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton appeared on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” where he played “Heartbreak Hotel” on the saxophone.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 3, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Defense Act of 1916, which, among other things, created the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

Ten years ago Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, attending a security conference in Singapore, branded Iran the world’s leading terrorist nation yet hoped that Tehran would seriously consider incentives from the West in exchange for suspending suspect nuclear activities.

Five years ago Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards admitted he had “done wrong” and hurt others but strongly denied breaking the law after federal prosecutors charged him with using $925,000 in under-the-table campaign contributions to hide his mistress and baby during his 2008 White House run. (After a 2012 trial in North Carolina, jurors acquitted Edwards on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions and deadlocked on five other counts; prosecutors decided against retrying the case.) Physician-assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian died at a Michigan hospital at 83. Actor James Arness (TV: “Gunsmoke”), 88, died in Brentwood, California.

One year ago The Pentagon disclosed that it had inadvertently shipped possibly live anthrax to at least 51 laboratories across the U.S. and in three foreign countries over the previous decade, but said that public health was not at risk.

— By The Associated Press