1952 — After buying a Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville a year
earlier, Sam Walton opened the first store bearing his own name on the
west side of the Fayetteville square on this day. The store, which was
also a Ben Franklin franchise, was called Walton 5¢ and 10¢ and was
located between Campbell-Bell and the Oklahoma Tire & Supply
stores. Walton continued to expand his chain and later changed the name
to Wal-Mart.
1968 — John Clellon Holmes, the novelist who coined
the phrase "The Beat Generation," spoke at the University of Arkansas
on this day.
1997 — Evergreen Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on this day.