Herrman’s Historical Happenings week of December 31
1868 Most of the business district of Johnstown burns.
1880 22,999,000 pounds of coal have been shipped from the Rich Hill Coal Mining Company in December.
1889 Butler is incorporated as a city.
1925 Amateur radio operator Heber King of Butler makes contact with a fellow radio operator in New Zealand, 9,000 miles away.
1947 A wind and ice storm of hurricane proportions hits Bates Co, causing lots of damage including $1,600 worth at the Butler light plant.
1973 Fire damages the Special Lens plant in Butler (Midwest Lumber location).
1979 A house at 711 Vine st in Butler is damaged by an explosion, during remodeling, when a can of paint is left on a lighted stove.
1987 Mo Governor John Ashcroft appoints Hugh Jenkins as Bates County Prosecuting Attorney in the wake of the resignation of Harold Kyser.
