25 Years Ago

 It's November 1978. 

 RCA is developing a camera that doesn't use film - it will store pictures in a memory chip inside the camera. You will be able to view the pictures on a small TV-like screen on the camera, and erase those you don't like. RCA predicts that the camera will be a reality within three to five years.

 Artist Norman Rockwell, 84, dies at his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

 A Staten Island ferry crashes into a Battery Park seawall in the fog. About 240 people are injured.

 Former President Richard Nixon ends his post-Watergate exile and starts a series of public appearances.

 Anthropologist Margaret Mead dies.

 In Jonestown, Guyana,  Jim Jones leads more than 900 of his followers to their deaths by drinking a fruit drink laced with cyanide. 

 Senator Edward Kennedy and his son Teddy mark the 15th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy by visiting his grave at Arlington Cemetery.

 Mary Frances Crosby, 19, daughter of the late Bing Crosby, marries Edmund "Ebb" Lottimer, 27.

 A fire at the Holiday Inn in Rochester kills 10 people.

 Elaine Esposito, 43, dies in Florida after having been in a coma for 37 years, three months, and 20 days. In a coma since an appendectomy when she was six-years-old, Elaine was cared for in her home by her parents.

 With the rising cost of cocoa, Hershey announces that the price of its candy bars will soon go from 20¢ to 25¢. However, the size of a Hershey bar will increase from 1.05 ounces to 1.2 ounces.

 In San Francisco, Mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk are shot to death at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. 

 During the first two weeks of November, the Southern Tier of New York enjoys 
mild weather.

 The Amazing Kreskin appears at the Forum in Binghamton.

 Neil Diamond fans wait in line to by tickets at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena for a December 2 concert.

 The Town of Owego is adding a new 40-acre park in Campville. The town planner says residents of Apalachin will benefit from the park - if the proposed bridge connecting Apalachin and Campville is ever built.

 Hugh L. Carey defeats Republican Perry B. Duryea to win a second term as Governor of New York State. His lieutenant governor is Mario Cuomo.

 Matthew McHugh, Democrat from the 27th District, wins a third term as congressman.

 Enrollment at SUNY-Binghamton tops 10,000 for the first time.

 The Captain and Tennille perform at the Broome County Veterans Memorial 
Arena. Their opening act is comedian Jeff Altman.

 The area's first significant snowfall occurs on November 20. Although the accumulation amounts to less than an inch, slippery roads cause more than 70 accidents.

 Blue Shield of Western New York plans to open an office in Binghamton and hire 200 people.

 The Village of Owego Fire Department plans to buy an old service station across the street from the fire station to house two trucks.

 The November 25-December 1 issue of TV Guide (below) features Suzanne Somers on the cover and the feature story "Video Discs Open New Worlds for Viewers." The new 12-inch discs with prerecorded movies will play on the Magnavision videodisc player (which costs about $700). The videodisc movies will sell for about $15 -- much less than the $50 to $100 price tag for a pre-recorded movie for a VCR. 

 On Saturday night we're watching ChiPs; Spider-Man; Welcome Back, Kotter; Carter Country; The Love Boat; and Fantasy Island on the networks, and Once Upon a Classic; The Muppet Show; We Interrupt This Week; Jack Benny; Fawlty Towers; and Monty Python's Flying Circus on our local PBS station.

 Movies playing in local theaters include Paradise Alley starring Sylvester Stallone, Magic with Anthony Hopkins, and The Boys from Brazil.
 Top tunes include MacArthur Park by Donna Summer, Hot Child in the City by Nick Gilder, Kiss You All Over by Exile, and You Needed Me by Anne Murray.

 And a one-pound can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce costs 40 cents, one pound of fresh yams costs 20 cents, and Butterball turkey toms are 85 cents per pound.

 Happy Thanksgiving.