100 years ago

Feb. 3, 1914: The LE&W station agent at Ellsworth has gone missing along with $75 cash and several blank money orders from the depot. His name is Robinson, and he is new around here. He boarded a train to Bloomington, purportedly to visit his wife. But he didn’t return.

75 years ago

Feb. 3, 1939: Henry Taylor of Waynesville was bitten by a tarantula while taking bananas off a stalk at his grocery store. He went to Dr. J. E. Marvel, who lanced the finger of Taylor’s right hand. Now he has a painful finger and a sore arm but no serious effects from the bite.

50 years ago

Feb. 3, 1964: Enrollment for the second term at University of Illinois hit a record 23,589. There were increases in the numbers of both graduate and undergraduate students. (Compare this figure with the approximately 20,000 students enrolled in modern-day ISU.)

25 years ago

Feb. 3, 1989: Public health officials will know next week if the bug that’s going around is an epidemic of the flu. Local schools along with those in Pontiac and Lincoln report high absentee rates. Cases of sore throats are also on the rise, doctors say.