75 years ago: “Member of the Durango Rotary Club will see and hear a Thompson sub-machine gun actually fired in the Gold Room of the Strater Hotel. A large glass window containing a number of separate panes will be used for a target, all of which will be broken by the bursts of bullets from the machine gun loaded with bird shot.”

50 years ago: “The number of births in the city of Durango in 1963 – 573 –was a drop of 57 from the 630 recorded in 1962.”

25 years ago: “A slow-moving storm blanketed Durango in 6 inches of wet, heavy snow, and forecasters think there’s a good chance of more snow this weekend.”

Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.