One trick pony
25 years ago — 1993
The Shelby County Commission has sued the state in an attempt to force a new investigation into the death of Elvis Presley. Bill Gibbons, a former City Councilman and now an assistant county attorney, filed the suit Friday in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville. Reached at his home Saturday afternoon, County Commissioner Vasco Smith said the suit was part of his 18-year attempt to expose Dr. Jerry Francisco, the county medical examiner. He said he believes Francisco has released false and misleading information not only in the Presley case, but also “in many others, especially in the cases where individuals died in the custody of police officers.”
50 years ago — 1968
Attendance records are expected to tumble like birdie putts in the Memphis Open beginning today at Colonial Country Club. Officials of the $100,000 tournament report ticket inquiries from Oklahoma to Alabama and they’re predicting crowds of 25,000 for the windup Saturday and Sunday. The high of 67,000 set last year is expected to be smashed by the end of the tournament.
75 years ago — 1943
Japan announced yesterday that it lost its greatest naval strategist, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-inchief of the Imperial Fleet, in an air battle in the South Pacific last month. Yamamoto, who once said he would dictate peace terms from the White House, was the brains behind the attack on Pearl Harbor. His loss was undoubtedly the biggest blow of the war to Japan.
100 years ago — 1918
Charlie Fong, who owns a laundry at 313 North Main, has gone to France to clean up the Germans. He left yesterday on a troop train with 597 other Memphians. Charlie had no relatives to see him off and a reporter approached him to wish him well. “You glad to be going, Charlie?” he asked. “You damn betcha,” came the quick reply.
125 years ago — 1893
Memphis is literally on wheels. Everyone who can balance himself, both old and young, has a bicycle. Suddenly it seems that life without a bicycle is a hollow mockery. A group of Memphis businessmen, members of the Memphis Cycle Club, will leave soon to pedal to the Chicago World’s Fair. They plan to freight their bicycles over all railroad trestles.