40 years ago: Explosives found in KU’s Learned Hall

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 3, 1973:

  • A substantial quantity of explosives and related items had been found in a room on the first floor of Learned Hall, home of the School of Engineering on the Kansas University campus, late last night and early this morning. Howard Docker, assistant director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said that the KBI had been informed about the presence of explosives by an anonymous telephone caller. University police, KBI agents, and agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division of the U.S. Treasury Department had joined in the search of the building, which was completed by 3 a.m. after the items were found in Room 102, a room used by students for work on special projects. The explosives found were not bombs or timed devices, according to officials, but were unassembled and possibly stored in containers; however, they were “definitely not” part of a student project, according to School of Engineering officials. The KBI reported that they had suspects in the case but that no more information would be available until later in the investigation.
  • The Lawrence area received its first precipitation of 1973 in a variety of ways, “in fact nearly everything in nature’s arsenal but hailstones” had fallen, according to an article this morning. Combined rain and sleet had joined some snowfall, which had been welcomed only halfheartedly in the area.