1990: On the front page of The Daily News, the large cavitation channel being built on Presidents Island is nearing completion. Its formal name is the David Taylor Research Center. The chamber, 240 feet long by 65 feet high, is to hold 1.5 million gallons of water to test water flow effects, or cavitation characteristics, for ships and submarines.

The facility is to be the lead laboratory for the U.S. Navy, and is heavily secured to guard planned research on the Sea Wolf class of submarines – specifically how to make then run as quietly as possible to avoid detection by Soviet Union subs and military forces.

While the Navy only built three Sea Wolf subs before the end of the Cold War, the Presidents Island facility remains under Navy control and is still used to test submarine prototypes.

(wikipedia.org)

1969: Sly and the Family Stone and Classics IV at the Mid-South Coliseum. The tour coincides with the release of Sly and the Family Stone’s new album, “Stand,” that same month.

By August, the band is on the bill for the Woodstock Music and Art Festival with a delayed night performance that became one of the highlights of the movie documentary about the festival.

Source: “Memphis Rocks” by Ron Hall

1955: Benefit at Crump Stadium for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which would open in 1962. The benefit was one of numerous fundraising efforts across the country in the years before the hospital became a reality. Entertainer Danny Thomas was present at the stadium fundraiser, just as he was at much smaller Coke parties and similar small-scale events. The effort was Thomas following through on his pledge to the patron saint of hopeless causes if St. Jude would help him succeed in show business. Locating a children’s hospital in Memphis was the specific suggestion of Roman Catholic Cardinal Samuel Stritch, who had been pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Memphis from 1911 to 1913.