"Old times there are not forgotten"
Nancy Pelosi of California became the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited the United States in conjunction with the 400th celebration of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. The Queen also visited the Kentucky Derby and Washington, D.C. The national average price for one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reached $3.23. Fourth year English major Seung-Hui Cho, 23 years of age shot and killed 5 faculty members, 27 students and wounded 30 more on the campus of Virginia Polytechnical Institute (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia before taking his own life. Nine firefighters in Charleston, South Carolina perished together attempting to rescue potential victims of a warehouse fire. The radical Muslim group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force of arms. Lewis "Scooter" Libby chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted in federal coourt on four counts of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury. Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers became the fifth baseball player in the major leagues to hit 600 home runs. Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as prime minister of the United Kingdom. The Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate issued subponeas to the office of the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States and to the United States Department of Justice for documents pertaining to warrantless wiretapping. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average of common stocks closed at $14,000.01, a record for the time. A prosecutor in North Carolina was disbarred for failing to reveal evidence that would have cleared three members of the Duke University lacross team who had been accused of rape. Product recalls were issued involving personal care items including toothpaste to more than 13,000 different toys manufactured in China. Wildfires and arson burned one half million acres in California destroying 2,300 structures including 1,200 homes amounting to $1 bilion in property damage. The U.S. death toll in the invasion and occupation of Iraq reached 3,902 military personnel.
New book titles: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, Tree of Smoke, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Then We Came to the End, On Chesil Beach, Out Stealing Horses, The Savage Detectives, Falling Man, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Exit Ghost, Fieldwork, Away, Cheating at Canasta, The Gathering, The Ghost, Lost City Radio, What the Dead Know, After Dark, Against the Day, The Book of Psalms, The Empress of Weehawken, A Free Life, House of MeetingsMister Pip, Petropolis, The Shadow Catcher, The Welsh Girl and Winnie and Wolf.
At the movies: What Happens in Vegas, 88 Minutes, Forbidden Kingdom, Indiana Jones 4, Harry Potter 6, The Happening, Pride and Glory, Sex and the City, The Women, Fool's Gold, Wanted, GI Joe, College Road Trip, Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.
Emmy Awards: James Spader for Boston Legal, Sally Field for Brothers and Sisters, Terry O'Quinn for Lost, Katherine Heigl for Grey's Anatomy, and The Sopranos for best drama series.
January 13
Fire at the Edmonds Apartments in Huntington, West Virginia resulted in nine fatalities. Worst Huntington fire in nearly 50 years.
January 30
A propane explosion destroyed the Little General Convenience Store at Ghent, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Four fatalities and five serious injuries.
United States Senator Robert C. Byrd took the oath of office begging an unpreceded 9th term (first elected in 1958) becoming the longest serving Senator in U.S. history.
March 9
Classmate Richard Harrison Davis died in Venice, Florida. Richard had graduated in 1962 from Concord College with a business degree which he applied to the management of labor unions, retiring in 2002 as vice president of the United Steel Workers of America. Richard was survived by his wife of 46 years, classmate Kay Weikle-Davis and two sons.
May 24
Classmate Elizabeth Marie Parker-Swann died in Beckley. Known as "Betty", she attended Institute and Lincoln Elementary Schools, Beckley Junior High School and two years at Woodrow Wilson Hich School before moving to Charleston where she graduated. A homemaker, Betty was survived by a son and two daughters.
May 29
Classmate Sherry Lee Evans-Rose had her first novel published. Erased is a mystery that begins with a young woman being left for dead in the North Carolina woods. She survived, but without her memory.
September 22
Classmate Gloria Jean Vaughn-Cochran died in Moneta, Virginia. Sadly, we are left with no details of her life after high school.
November 15
Classmate John Griffin Roles died in Beckley. John was a former distributor with Black Diamond Distributing in Beckley and had been an industrial salesman for Kimball-Midwest before becoming disabled in 1998. John was survived by his wife, classmate Patrica Ann Patrick-Roles and two sons.
December 29
Classmate Ronald (Ron) Eugene Robertson died in Beckley. Ron worked in retail management before returning to Beckley in 1977 to become an insurance agent. Ron retired in 1999. He was survived by his wife, one son and two daughters.