Twenty years ago — 1999

Eager businesses and frugal shoppers geared up for the third tax-free clothing week in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. The brief respite from sales tax has become a boon for back-to-school shoppers and those in search of good clothing deals. Clothing and department stores also benefit from the business upswing the break provides. According to a J.C. Penney employee, “Sales are expected to be through the roof tomorrow.”

Thirty years ago — 1989

On Sept. 1, Europe paid solemn tribute to the millions of victims of World War II, which started 50 years ago on that day when a German warship opened fire on a tiny Polish garrison. Adolf Hitler’s troops quickly overran Poland and the war spread around the globe. In the end, 50 million people had died and the Nazis had shocked the world with the extermination of 6 million Jews. The United States had forever changed warfare by dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Forty years ago — 1979

Dunkirk native William Parks has joined the mathematics faculty at Fredonia State University College as an assistant professor. His most recent position was as an assistant professor of information sciences management at Buffalo State University College. He has published extensively in the area of computer science and is a columnist for Personal Computing Magazine and a feature writer for the section on “Microcomputing in the Future.”

Fifty years ago — 1969

The Firestone tire retreading plant, a new facility constructed on Bennett Road near the New York State Thruway overpass in Dunkirk, is completed but it will be several weeks before the plant is ready for a full operational crew. The Firestone plant will employ about 25 local residents once it is in full operation, according to plant manager James Schmidt.