Twenty years ago — 1999

Nobody was more surprised than Joe DiMaggio when he saw a television report that he had died. DiMaggio was watching a tape of “Gunfight at the OK Corral” at his home with his lawyer and neighbor, Morris Engelberg. They happened to stop the tape just when the report appeared as a “crawl” across the screen during “Dateline NBC.” DiMaggio had been recovering from pneumonia and lung cancer surgery on Oct. 12 which required a 99-day hospital stay. The 84-year-old Hall of Famer was livid at the report until Engelberg made him laugh by saying, “Joe, we must be in heaven together.”

Thirty years ago — 1989

From City Shorts ….. Tops Market last week donated 1,152 one-pound bags of popcorn to the city of Dunkirk so people could feed it to the geese in Memorial Park. Assistant Parks Division Foreman Rich Richmond, however, reports that although the geese aren’t too interested in the popcorn, the sea gulls love it. The popcorn is being stored in the water department pump house adjacent to the parks department garage.

Forty years ago — 1979

Proposals from the “Save Mindzenty”committee have been rejected by the Most Rev. Edward D. Head, bishop of Buffalo, with the rejection being termed “final.” The announcement of the rejection met with bitter opposition from the parents and members of the community who had planned a meeting that was canceled after the bishop’s announcement. Foremost in their statements were decisions to withdraw support for Catholic Charities and the scheduled fund drive for the diocesan school system. The bishop never even met personally with the Rev. Donald Fafinski, who presented the proposals. Instead, they were rejected outright by John Walsh, chairman of the Diocesan Task Force.

Fifty years ago — 1969

The OBSERVER Pet of the Week is a bird in flight. The pet canary being held by Pamela Mangus took flight just as OBSERVER photographer Lamar Schnur was about to snap the shutter. “Goldie” looks ready to tour the Mangus home at 98 West Fourth St., Dunkirk. Five-year-old Pamela is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Mangus.