Thursday Throwback: 1990 Private Detectives
Remember all those T-V shows about private detectives? There were Magnum P-I, Mike Hammer and even Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote. 30 years ago, we talked to local P-I's who…
Thursday Throwback: 1983 Rainy May
We just broke a 25 year mark for rainiest May in Chattanooga. And we still could break the all-time record. So for our Thursday Throwback, we're taking you back to another…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 House Raffle
For Our Thursday Throwback today, we want to take you back to an unusual contest in Rising Fawn. A couple wanted to move into town so they put their home up…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Old Time Jamboree
As we get you ready for the first IBMA festival and conference here in Chattanooga this fall, let’s look back at some of our bluegrass history in this area. The…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 New Coke
Forty years ago, the Coca-Cola company took a major gamble. The first bottles of New Coke started rolling off local assembly lines. For our Thursday Throwback, we show you how the…
Thursday Throwback: Dr. Shock
Earlier this week, we told you about the passing of Hosea Pierce, Jr. But he was better known to kids around our area as EPB's Doctor Shock. For years, he taught local…
Thursday Throwback: 2005 State of Dade
For almost a hundred years, we had a foreign country right here on our back porch. At least that’s the legend. The story is that tiny Dade County, Georgia succeeded…
Thursday Throwback: 2005 Oceans Journey
Twenty years ago, the Tennessee Aquarium went from freshwater to salt. They opened phase two of the project with the Ocean's Journey next door to the original Aquarium. So for our…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Shar Pei
In our Thursday Throwback, we want to re-visit the comeback of a very rare dog breed. In 1978, there were only 78 Shar Pei dogs left in the world. But enthusiastic…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Vivian Woods
Forty years ago, the Shuttle Challenger launched another successful space mission. One of the people watching that flight was a local teacher who hoped she would someday be on that Shuttle.…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 March stories
Forty years ago, the news in our area was very much like today. But some wasn't. For our Thursday Throwback, we take a look back at what was making news in…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Scottsboro Blackbirds
It looks like something from an old horror movie. For Our Thursday Throwback, we take a look at the bird menace of northwest Alabama 40 years ago. Flocks of blackbirds plagued a…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Ebony Fashion Fair
Styles can change over the years. So for our Thursday Throwback, we take a look back at the styles forty years ago. Have these styles come back in fashion? Here…
Thursday Throwback: 1990 Whitwell Light
Change doesn't always come peacefully in a small town. For our Thursday Throwback, we have one example in Marion County. 35 years ago, the town of Whitwell got their first traffic…
Thursday Throwback: 1990 Matchingmaking
These days, couples find each other in dating apps or maybe on reality TV shows. But for our Thursday Throwback, we share a more low tech version 35 years ago. WDOD radio…
Thursday Throwback: 1990 Super Bowl
We're getting ready for the Super Bowl in tonight's Thursday Throwback. 35 years ago, the showdown was between San Francisco and Denver. And our reporter got some wide-ranging fans on the…
Thursday Throwback: 1980 Jerry Clower
Before Jeff Foxworthy, Leanne Morgan or Larry the Cable guy, there was Jerry Clower. He was a country comedian from Mississippi. Clower was huge in the 1970s through the nineties. But…
Thursday Throwback: 1980 Rodeo
When you talk about rodeos, you generally think of bull riding and bronc busting. But they include other talents too. For our Thursday Throwback, we take you back to the rodeo in…
Thursday Throwback: 1985 Elvis Presley
If he were alive today, Elvis Presley would have turned 90 years old last week. But after almost 50 years after his death, we’re still talking about the king of rock…
Thursday Throwback: 1980 Ice Storm
Winter arrives on Friday with a snowy forecast. But snow isn’t always the worst thing that winter can throw at us. For our Thursday Throwback, we’ll show you what a major…
Thursday Throwback: Credit Card Debt
Forget the change of presidents, the stock market or inflation. The biggest impact on your January budget is probably going to be your holiday spending. And that hasn't changed much over…
Thursday Throwback: 1989 Hurricane Trees
For our Thursday Throwback, we re-visit the invention of “Hurricane Trees.” That’s people from our area helped out victims of Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina. We’ll show you what local organizations…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Knock Off Dolls
Last week, we took you back to the Cabbage Patch Doll frenzy of the 1980s in our Thursday Throwback. This week, we're looking at the dark side of hot toys.…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Cabbage Patch Dolls
Forty years ago, we were in the peak of the Cabbage Patch Doll frenzy. Parents would do just about anything to get their hands on the hottest toy of the…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Marketing Trends
These days, marketers will break down your generation, your politics and your income level when they design a plan to reach you. But marketing strategies do change over the years. For…
Thursday Throwback: 1978 Jaycees Haunted House
Public Haunted House experiences have changed over the years, but they are not new. For our Thursday Throwback, we're taking you back to the kind of fright night your parents…
Thursday Throwback: 1994 Halloween Violence
These days, we have a more sanitized version of Halloween. But in the old days, we had the treats, but we also had the "tricks." For our Thursday Throwback, we take…
Thursday Throwback: Air Show
The Wings Over North Georgia air show is taking this year off in Rome. The annual show brings top air teams from around the word to north Georgia each fall. But construction…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Ugly Couple
This is a beauty pageant you don’t want to win. For our Thursday Throwback, we’ll meet the ugliest college couple in America. They went on the World’s Ugliest Blind Date forty…
Thursday Throwback: Elevator Operator
A lot of jobs that your grandparents had don't exist anymore. We used to have milkmen that delivered milk to your door. We used to have switchboard operators who routed phone calls.…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Weather Radar
News 12's Chief Meteorologist Austin Onek uses a variety of high tech software and tech to track a storm's path. But 40 years ago, it was much more basic. That year,…
Thursday Throwback: 2019 Chester Frost Raccoons
We've seen a lot of stories this year about bears wandering neighborhoods looking for food. But for tonight's Thursday Throwback, we take you back for another animal problem. Five years…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Young Republicans
The political landscape has changed a lot in our area over the last 50 years. Our area was dominated by Democrats back then. But it began to change when Ronald Reagan…
Thursday Throwback: Alabama Football
So Far, so good for Alabama fans. This fall, they have a new head football coach after the legendary Nick Sabean retired. It's been four decades since the school has seen a…
Thursday Throwback: Jaycees
Elvis was a Jaycee. And so was Bill Gates. But in the old days, you wouldn't find any women in their ranks. The organization was founded to bring together men who would be…
Thursday Throwback: 2014 Ice Bucket
Ten years ago, we were in the middle of a social media frenzy. It was called the ice bucket challenge for A-L-S. The idea was simple, If you took the challenge,…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Breakdancing
We just saw how they turned Break Dancing into an Olympic competition. So for our Thursday Throwback, we’ll take you back to when the moves were new in our area. Here…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Synagogue Trial
Unfortunately, violence against Jews continues to make headlines. Forty years ago, Chattanooga was the scene of a high profile hate crime trial. White Supremacist and serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin stood…
Thursday Throwback: 1980 Browns Ferry
T-V-A celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their first and largest nuclear power plant, August 1, 2024. Browns Ferry began commercial operations August 1, 1974. But T-V-A's nuclear program was almost brought…
Thursday Throwback: 2014 Primary
With all the developments lately in the Presidential race, we remind you that there are several races going on right now in Tennessee. In fact, early voting ends this weekend for next…
Thursday Throwback: 1989 Fyffe UFO
How long does 15 minutes of fame really last? 35 years ago, we sent a reporter back to Fyffe, Alabama to see if people were still talking about the event that…
Thursday Throwback: 1988 Drag Racing Granny
A lot of colorful characters have come out of north Alabama. One of the raciest was Cleo Chandler. At an age when most would be content to play with the grandkids, Cleo tried out drag racing. She was a top…
From The Archives - Pops In the Park
Chattanooga, TN (WDEF-TV) - Before there was Pops on the River, we had Pops in the Park. The Chattanooga Symphony would perform a free summertime pops concert at Chickamauga…
From the Archives: 1994 Friday Flicks
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- This weekend, you might sit down with your family and stream a good movie at home. But in years past, it worked a little differently. If you wanted to watch a movie at home, you had to go…
Thursday Throwback: 1984 Break Dancing
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- We’re looking back at a dance craze in tonight’s Thursday Throwback. “Footloose” wasn’t the only dance-themed movie in 1984, but it was the biggest. There was also a flood of break-dancing movies in that time. We saw…
Thursday Throwback: Evi the Bobcat
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - For our Thursday Throwback, we take you back five years. That's when the folks at the Nature Center came to work to find their bobcat was missing.…
Thursday Throwback: 1982 June Jam
FORT PAYNE, Ala. (WDEF) -- Fort Payne is counting the proceeds from another June Jam after last weekend's show. The country music festival saw its second comeback event since taking a 26-year break. So, for our Thursday Throwback, let's take…
From the Archives: 1989 Wrangler's Gator
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- It sounded like a good idea at the time. 35 years ago, a new country rock bar was opening. The owner from the gulf coast wanted to make a live alligator his mascot. In this edition…
Thursday Throwback: Entertainment of 1984
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- Forty years ago, there was no social media, no smartphones in pockets and only four channels on TV. So, how did our parents' generation entertain themselves? We're going to find out in this edition of our Thursday…
From the Archives: 1979 Trucker Strike
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- Gas prices have been a rollercoaster ride for us in the last few months. But the good news is, experts say the worst is behind us. They are predicting a relatively calm summer season for prices. That…