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A daily look at some of The News & Observer headlines on this date in past years.
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In 1986, skywatching enthusiasts flocked to Chapel Hill for a rare opportunity to peek into “homemade contraptions.”
The pinhole projectors — made from cardboard boxes and other materials — allowed roughly 150 people to safely view a partial solar eclipse at Morehead Planetarium.
Outside the building, 8-year-old William Powell had a confession to make. He caught a few glimpses of the sun even though his teacher warned against it.
“She said it would make us go blind, but it hasn’t done anything to me yet,” he told The News & Observer.
In 1976, a boy survived after his teen brother accidentally shot him in the chest at a Raleigh park.
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“The doctor said if Gary had been an inch shorter, the bullet would have hit his heart,” his dad, Joe R. Murray Sr., told The N&O.
Raleigh juvenile detective Rodger L. Phillips said the incident unfolded after a group of boys fired practice shots at Lake Johnson.
When the gun jammed, Murray said his 13-year-old son started to clean it. Then the rifle fired, striking his 11-year-old brother.
The younger brother was rushed to Rex Hospital, underwent surgery and was “listed in satisfactory condition.” No one was charged.
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