Did you know?

100 years ago, Jan. 15, 1908

A blurb announcing the junior prom appears after an editorial. This year’s prom was the first held by the juniors to honor the senior class. They wanted to make sure their prom wouldn’t be outdone by the efforts of previous years. Sounds like a bad high school flashback.

50 years ago, Jan. 14, 1958

The Carnegie Tech Radio Club offered radiograms as part of their effort to spread the Tartan message worldwide. Those interested were able to send messages to several cities across the country, and also several countries, including Liberia, Canada, Peru, and Nicaragua. One such message read as follows: “Doing swell in Pittsburgh. Stop. Hope you and accompanying llamas are doing swell in Peru. Stop.”

25 Years Ago, Jan. 18, 1983

An advertisement in the week’s paper encouraged Carnegie Mellon youth to “Get that Great ‘X’ Look.” Heck, yes! It was great! The various versions of the unisex pompadour: spikey, not spikey, dyed, not dyed, curled, wavey, and generally just amazing. What wasn’t to love about this transitioning period of the mullet?

10 years ago, Jan. 19, 1998

Norm MacDonald, popular comedian and then member of Saturday Night Live, performed in Rangos Hall. MacDonald is well known for his performances in such modern classics as Billy Madison and Dirty Work. After a thorough lecture on the richness and subtlety of his works, MacDonald answered questions from the audience, which were more based on the philosophical importance of his pieces than his acting techniques. When asked about his thoughts on Billy Madison, MacDonald simply answered, “To err is human, to ignite feces on strangers’ doorsteps, divine”.

5 years ago, Jan. 20, 2003

Health officials visited La Prima in Wean Hall to investigate possible health hazards. Amongst the charges against the café were sanitation violations. Later records show that the actual suspects were not the employees of La Prima, but the computer science majors who were customers.

1 Year Ago, Jan. 22, 2007

An unlocked vehicle in front of the Mellon Institute was reported to University Police. The owner did eventually come out and lock the car; nothing was stolen. That is happy news, but why was this even noteworthy? We have, fortunately, really boring news.