This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Editor's note • Every Saturday, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby pulls out long-forgotten pieces of history to give readers a glimpse of life, crime and misadventure in Utah that week in 1916, 1941, 1966 and 1991 — showing just how much we've changed, and how much we haven't. Recognize a relative or have a story to share? Visit Facebook.com/DisturbingHistory or email rkirby@sltrib.com.

1916

Dec. 10 • Coasting (sledding) on city streets causes headaches for the police. Some streets are set aside for children to coast on. The police threaten to confiscate the sleds of those children who ignore the rules.

Dec. 11 • J.H. Paul, professor of ornithology at the University of Utah, meets with the Salt Lake City Council to discuss the eradication of the nonnative English sparrow. Paul encourages citizens to poison the birds by soaking 2 quarts wheat in one-eighth ounce sulfate of strychnine and 1 pint boiling water.

Dec. 14

• While eating breakfast in a cafe, plainclothes officer L.L. Larsen is approached by a youth offering to sell him a watch taken the night before in a holdup that Larsen was investigating. Oops.

• A man ejected from a streetcar along the west 200 South line near Jordan Bridge runs into his home and fetches a rifle, which he proceeds to fire at the departing car. The car is struck but none of the passengers is injured. The police go to 1918 Euclid Ave. and arrest G.P. Jensen.

1941

Dec. 10 • The Salt Lake City Council passes a new ordinance requiring motorists to be in the right lane prior to making a right-hand turn … and in the left lane for a left-hand turn.

• The last horse watering trough in Salt Lake City — located on State Street between 400 and 500 South — is to be removed.

• Local casualty lists from Pearl Harbor begin to arrive. Reported killed are West Virginia battleship Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion (later awarded the Medal of Honor), Marine Pfc. Joseph D. Pyper, 21, and Navy Ensign Howard D. Merrill, 23 (killed aboard the U.S.S. Arizona). Two weeks later, the Pyper family receives news that Joseph is still alive.

Dec. 13 • Local recruiting offices stay open until almost dawn to accommodate the number of Utahns looking to enlist.

1966

Dec. 11 • The Continental Bank & Trust branch at 1575 S. Main is held up by a man who escapes with $4,945. It is Salt Lake City's sixth bank robbery of the year. The same bank's branch at 467 E. South Temple was robbed the week before, the bandits escaping with $10,000.

Dec. 13 • Traffic understandably comes to a halt a mile east of Echo when a tractor trailer overturns, spilling hundreds of 175mm artillery rounds all over the road and parallel railroad track. None of the shells explode, but the crash kills the driver and his twin brother.

Dec. 15 • Utahns mourn the passing of family-friendly movie maker Walt Disney.

Also this week • World famous "Daisy" BB guns are on sale for $8.95 during the Christmas shopping season. A head of lettuce sells for 10 cents.

Also this week • "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes nears the top of the charts. Popular children's Christmas gifts are G.I. Joe, a Mary Poppins doll and the floor game Twister.

1991

Dec. 11 • Thousands of migratory birds heading to the Salton Sea on the Mexico-U.S. border instead crash-land in Fillmore. About 3,000 eared grebes are rescued by students and volunteers. Thousands others died on impact.

Dec. 12 • A 28-year-old man attempts to hold up the Taco Time at 435 E. 400 South, but the clerk refuses to believe that he has an actual gun. The man flees and attempts to rob Della Fontana restaurant. The clerk instead calls the police. The man flees and smacks into the side of a marked police car. He was taken to jail. It wasn't his night.