Oct. 26, 1934, in The Star: Doug-las Leigh, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Leigh, formerly of Anniston, has formed an electrical and outdoor advertising agency in New York City under the firm name Douglas Leigh Inc. Mr. Leigh moved with his parents to Birmingham about 10 years ago and for the last few years has been in New York, where he was connected with the General Outdoor Advertising Company, which he left to go into business for himself. [Leigh's creative billboards, sometimes featuring motion, would delight New York City visitors for many years.] Also this date: Funeral services were held this afternoon from her parents' Snow Street home for 20-year-old Miss Mary Davenport, an Alabama College freshman who died yesterday in Oxford. The popular girl had been elected class president each year she was enrolled at Calhoun County High School, and many are mourning her passing. Besides Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Davenport, survivors include a brother and sister, Carl and Georgianne.

Oct. 26, 1984, in The Star: Kermit Huddleston was recently honored by friends and supporters for marking 20 years as principal of Ranburne High School, where his graduating classes have never enrolled any more than 40. Huddleston, 58, came to Ranburne in 1964 from Ragland High School, where he had been football coach. He's now seen whole families go through Ranburne's hallways, which were constructed under the WPA in the 1930s.

On October 26 in
1958 — Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in 8 hours, 41 minutes.
1969 — Anniston's first TV station, WHMA, signed on at noon with a half-hour test pattern followed by two pro football games. The scrappy little station virtually disappeared, not quite 27 years old, in September 1996 when it was absorbed into the Birmingham ABC market.

Monday's birthdays: Author Pat Conroy is 64. Actress Jaclyn Smith is 64. TV host Pat Sajak is 63. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is 62. Actor Dylan McDermott is 48. Actor Cary Elwes is 47. Singer Natalie Merchant is 46. Country singer Keith Urban is 42. Actor Tom Cavanagh is 41. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) is 36.