BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ten years ago this week:
What started as an effort by three people who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and who wanted to raise awareness and funds to combat the incurable condition was taking the nation by storm.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge involved participants pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads and then challenging others to do the same,.
The trend caught fire and raised $115 million in just six weeks, while also demonstrating the power of burgeoning social media platforms.
In Buffalo, a new attraction was unveiled at Canalside which also became wildly popular to the point where it surprised even those who were responsible for bringing it here. It's also the subject of this week's News 2 You Pop Quiz (watch the conclusion of the video attached to this story for the answer).
Not far from there construction on Harborcenter was continuing and had passed the halfway point toward completion, while the structural steel work was completed for the Delaware North building at Delaware and Chippewa.
Tim Horton's debuted its Buffalo Crunch Donut, drenched in wing sauce and covered in chips, at the New York State at the same time the company was being acquired by Burger King.
Google began testing drones to deliver packages which is an idea that's still not come into wide spread practical use despite the passage of a decade of time.
20 years ago this week:
As the summer Olympics closed in Athens, the republican national convention opened in New York City where the GOP nominated George W. Bush for a second term as president one month after democrats chose John Kerry as their standard bearer at their convention in Boston.
In Buffalo a fire caused by a cigarette tossed in a trash can heavily damaged LaNova Pizzeria forcing the owners of that landmark business to spend more than $1 million in order to re-open four and a half months later.
30 Years ago this week:
Fans returned to Orchard Park for another season of Buffalo Bills football after the team had appeared in (and lost) four consecutive Super Bowls.
"I'm confident they can lose five," quipped one fan speaking with WGRZ-TV, when he was asked to asses the teams chances in what was known as "The Drive for Five".
Returning fans were also experiencing the results of the first round of major renovations done to the then 21 year old stadium.
These included the addition of premium seats, luxury suites, and a state of the art (by standards of the day) scoreboard featuring what was billed as "a Sony jumbotron which is the biggest electronic scoreboard in the country."
There were also higher ticket prices and a new ticket surcharge, along with increased parking fees to help pay for it all.
Meanwhile, the team began barring independent vendors from selling souvenirs and food as they had for years in areas outside of and adjacent to the stadium, which is why you don't see the endless rows of tables and hot dog carts that you once did on game day back in the days when it was all News 2 You.
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