CHARLOTTE — Decades of Charlotte’s stories are in the Channel 9 archives, and we get glimpses of our past when we dig through them.
Whether you remember them or heard about them from a family member, take a look back on the news from this week in Charlotte’s history.
The downfall of PTL
Televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker grew a national following for years as they led The PTL Club. But in 1987, the Christian media empire began to unravel.
Finance and sex scandals forced Jim to resign, and the Bakkers had to file for bankruptcy.
The Bakkers handed over control to Jerry Falwell as the scandal played out publicly over the next two years.
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TWA hijacking
It was this week in 1985 when hijackers took control of a Trans World Airlines flight from Athens to Rome with 85 Americans on board.
The hijackers demanded the release of hundreds of Muslim prisoners.
One victim was killed, and other passengers were held for up to two weeks before being released.
The times aren’t changin’
If you’ve ever been caught on N. Tryon Street when it floods, you can take solace in knowing that drivers dealt with it decades ago, too.
And for businesses, the struggle to find workers may seem like a recent problem -- but we were telling that story back in 1985 too. It was happening back then because of “Charlotte’s low unemployment rate and its growing economy.” Sound familiar?
And ‘85 must have been a fun summer because it brought us the Holerin’ Contest in Spivey’s Corner, out near Fayetteville.
That festival also gave us the hard-to-describe event you’ll see in the video at the top of this page.
(WATCH: ‘Bull Street’: Movie documents history of South Carolina Lunatic Asylum)
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