Feb. 3, 1935, in The Star: According to figures from the tax collector’s office, 2,394 Calhoun County residents are paid up in the poll tax this year. Only a few receipts were issued for more than a year’s worth of tax, said tax collector J. F. Williams. Also this date: Approximately 6,000 houses exist in Anniston, Oxford and the immediate surrounding area, according to an article about a Federal Housing Administration program for repairs and renovation of private dwellings. A mass public meeting about the campaign to revive the building trades will be held at the courthouse later this week.

Feb. 3, 1985, in The Star: A profile article on Dr. Tom Bridges tells how the Alexandria Valley doctor, who was raised in Anniston, now tends to the illnesses and injuries of a grateful community. “He’s the last country doctor I know anything about,” says 81-year-old Forney Jennings, a lifetime resident of Ohatchee. “Dr. Bridges sees lots of country folks who have nowhere to go.” Bridges developed an affinity for the country and its people while riding in his father’s Coca-Cola truck during the Depression, so when he was ready to set up his practice in 1953, it was natural that the territory north and west of the Anniston-Jacksonville corridor would get his attention.

On February 3 in
1865 — President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast; the talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.
1913 — The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.
1924 — The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington, D.C. at age 67.
1966 — The Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.

Wednesday's Birthdays: Comedian Shelley Berman is 84. Football Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarkenton is 70. Actress Blythe Danner is 67. Football Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese is 65. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 60. Actor Nathan Lane is 54. Rock musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) is 54. Country singer Matraca Berg is 46. Actress Maura Tierney is 45. Actor Warwick Davis is 40. Singer-songwriter Jessica Harp is 28.