100 Years Ago: 1924

More than 700 heart specialists, among the fifteen thousand physicians attending the seventy fifth annual convention of the American Medical Association in Chicago, listened simultaneously today to the pulsation of a heart.

The demonstration made possible through the use of a giant stethophone was a feature of the opening of the convention.

It was asserted that the new instrument would permit medical students to acquire in three days technical knowledge previously acquired in three months.

50 Years Ago: 1974

An estimated 2,400 persons attended the annual pancake breakfast sponsored by the Auburn-Lewiston Kiwanis Club, Sunday.

Under the big top in the Spring Street parking lot, there was barely breathing room as the hungry populous lined up to feast on the pancakes and sausages that were cooked by the members themselves.

Breakfast was served from 7:30 a.m. for the early birds who went fishing until 12:30 p.m. for people who stayed out the night before.

25 Years Ago: 1999

The 50-pound pack carried by a woman who is prepared to hike the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail will contain the usual items: sleeping bag, plenty of dried noodles and macaroni, fresh sock,  bug repellent. But  Dawn Averitt, 30 of Raleigh, N.C., also is toting her medicine cabinet on her back.

Averitt takes 28 pills and liquid medications every day to keep the virus that causes AIDS at bay. She is having her prescription drugs mailed to two dozen different points along the trail as she begins walking Thursday from Maine to Georgia.

“We have to be a little more precise in our planning,” Averitt said on the eve of her hike up mile-high Mt. Katahdin the trail’s north terminus and the starting point for what she anticipates will be a six-month trek.

For Averitt, “this very personal journey” represents the fulfillment of a childhood dream and affirmation that people with AIDS can take on big challenges and meet them.

The material used in Looking Back is produced exactly as it originally appeared although misspellings and errors may be corrected.