Memphis History

1978	The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, had a small start in 1978, with only 20 teams, it rapidly grew. The contest drew 50 teams in 1979, 80 in 1980, and 180 teams from nine states in 1981. It has now grown to be the largest pork barbecue competition in the world. More than 250 teams from 20+ states and several countries compete, and an estimated 90,000 people attend the competition. Steve Martin in Auditorium Myers Memphis Sun Studio
1980	Population 664.356 December, Restored buildings Beale street
1981	Bealestreet April 6
1982	J.O. Patterson Jr. becomes mayor of Memphis for 20 days in 1982, also Wallace Madewell becomes mayor only in 1982. Richard C. Hackett becomes mayor till 1991. May 10, W.C. Handy Bealestreet September 5, Bealestreet
1983	Bealestreet Fred Smith, founder FedEx
1984	April 29, Hotel King Cotton falls.
1985	Lowe's Palace theater, 81 Union Avenue (1920-1977) demolished 1985. next door to Britling's Cafeteria. With 2200 seats, it was one of the premier movie theaters from 1920 when it was built until 1977. It was demolished in 1985. This location is now a parking garage. Pinnacle Airlines is an American regional airline based in Memphis, operating Delta Connection for Delta Airlines. Its main base is Memphis International Airport.
1990	Population 610.100
1992	W.W. Herenton becomes mayor till 2009.
1995	Rufus Thomas in Bealestreet
1997	Colgan Air, Inc. is an American fully certificated regional airline subsidiary of Piinacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air are located in Memphis.
2000	Population 650.100 June 6, Barnum & Bailey circus to perform in Pyramide, Memphis.
2005	Nov. 6, Baptist Memorial Hospital imploded in downtown Memphis to make way for a new bio-research facility. At one time it was the largest private hospital in the world. It was then home of thousands of births, including the daughter of Elvis and the son of Isaac Hayes. Elvis had a suite on the 16th and 18th floors for when he needed medical attention. The Implosian took place at 6.45 am and took only 14 seconds. Baptist was 21 stories high. It took approximately 60-thousand man hours to strip the building getting it ready for the implosion. 807 pounds of dynamite was placed in 2,500 holes drilled into the existing load bearing columns. It's estimated that the 225,000 cubic yards of debris will take 9 to 11 months to clear.
2006	October 6, First United Methodist
2008	Population 669.651
2009	Myron Lowery becomes mayor only in 2009 pro tem. A.C. Wharton becomes mayor till ?. September 22

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