No students were injured when a small explosion shattered a window in a Lawrence High School classroom during a morning class. The device involved, referred to by police as technically a “small bomb,” was described by a nearby student as sounding more like a large firecracker, possibly taped to the outside of the window.

More than 800,000 Kansans were expected to turn out for Election Day the following week. The expected large turnout of voters was to decide whether to approve an amendment to the state constitution which would allow liquor-by-the-ounce. The proposed amendment would remove the sentence, ‘The open saloon shall be and is hereby forever prohibited.’ Kansas had repealed prohibition in 1948. Liquor-by-the-drink advocates were claiming that the state was losing money by not selling alcohol by the drink. Opponents said that the new law would contribute to more alcohol-related accidents and greater consumption overall.