From The Archives: 1988 Heat & Drought
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - On Tuesday, the temperature hit 99 degrees. Patrick tells us that's the hottest day we've seen since 2019. So is it unusual for temperatures to get…
From The Archives: 2012 Lauren Alaina closes Riverbend Festival
(CHATTANOOGA) - Ten years ago, the Riverbend scored a big homecoming show to close out that year's festival. Country singer Lauren Alaina was just starting her professional…
From The Archives: 1985 Commercials
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - If you are watching CBS this week, you may notice the new promos for their summer daytime lineup. The campaign is an homage to their…
From The Archives: "extras" at the filming of 42 in Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Ten years ago this week, hundreds of Chattanoogans came out to watch actor Chadwick Boseman do his thing. But they also hoped to get into his movie.…
From The Archives: 1992 North Shore
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Modern Chattanoogans may take it for granted that people want to move to the Southside, Riverfront and North Shore. But it wasn't always that way. 30 years…
From The Archives: Friday the 13th superstitions
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Is Friday the 13th really the right day to try something new? The date has become linked to bad luck, like walking under ladders or…
From The Archives: 1992 reaction to the Rodney King beating verdict
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Police arrests caught on video are all over the news these days. But controversial arrests are nothing new. Thirty years ago, the most infamous case of all…
From The Archives: The 1992 Tennessee Aquarium Opening
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - This weekend, the Tennessee Aquarium celebrates their 30th birthday. "On May 1, 1992, Chattanooga came together as the Tennessee Aquarium opened its doors, igniting the 'Renaissance on the River.'" So they are holding a Riverfront Celebration all…
From The Archives: 1987 Sunrise Service
COLLEGEDALE, Tennessee (WDEF) - An Easter tradition is returning to Collegedale on Saturday after a two year break for Covid. The SonRise Resurrection Pageant begins at 9 AM…
From The Archives: 1982 Alabama Homecoming Concert
RAINSVILLE, Alabama (WDEF) - Rainsville, Alabama isn't really their hometown, but it was close enough in 1982. County music fans in our area should be able to tell…
From The Archives: 1982 World's Fair
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WDEF) - If you visit Knoxville these days, pay a visit to World's Fair Park. It's a greenway and public performance area downtown. The park is built…
From The Archives: 1992 stars
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - We couldn't pick just one star for you in tonight's Thursday Throwback. So we came up with three. Our stars come from the fields of music, politics…
From The Archives: 2002 Tri-State Crematory scandal
NOBLE, Georgia (WDEF) - We are marking the 20th anniversary this week of one of the most bizarre stories ever in our area. This week, authorities had just begun to…
From the Archives: 1992 Valentine's Day
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Our Valentine's Day traditions haven't changed all that much over the years. For our Thursday Throwback, we're going back 30 years to celebrate in 1992. The technology…
From The Archives: Chattanooga Air Pollution
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Chattanooga leaders like to talk about how far we've come as a green city. The main evidence comes from our history with air pollution. When the city…
From The Archives: 1982 French Chef Visit
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - These days, you can find a cooking show just about every where you turn. But 40 years ago, chefs had to hit the road to reach…
From The Archives: Year in Review of the 2011 tornado outbreak
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - This is the week we usually spend reflecting back on the previous year. Ten years ago, it was obvious what was the biggest story of the year here…
From The Archives: 1991 Christmas Song
RAINSVILLE, Alabama (WDEF) - Each year, we get a new bundle of holiday songs. Some last, some don't. Which takes us to a seasonal hit from 30 years…
From The Archives: 1991 rating the Mall Santas
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - The problem with more online Christmas shopping is where will people go to sit on Santa's lap? For generations, parents took their kids to visit Santa while…
From The Archives: 1991 Oh, Calcutta controversy
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - The Tivoli Foundation is at a crossroads these days. They are still trying to survive the pandemic, while pushing a major expansion to the Tivoli…
Chip's Good Word: Desmond Doss
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - One of the most famous veterans from the Tennessee Valley is buried at the National Cemetery. Desmond Doss was born in Virginia and moved to our area later…
From The Archives: Remembering Chattanooga's Streetcar system
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Before buses took over the job of moving Chattanoogans around town, the city had a thriving streetcar system. Streetcars used electricity to power them instead of combustion engines.…
From The Archives: The Timeline for the Fallen Five attack
A year after the terror attack in Chattanooga on July 16, 2015, reporter Erik Avanier recreates just what happened and when.
From The Archives: Wedding Troubles
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Imagine getting a call on your honeymoon saying that your wedding was really legal! It happened to a pair of couples in Chattanooga back in 1991. And one of them was radio personality Parker…
News 12 Then: 1981 Armed Forces Day Parade
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Chattanooga will hold its 72nd Armed Forces Day Parade on Friday. The parade starts at 10:30 AM at the intersection of MLK Boulevard and Market Street. It will then proceed up Market to the…
Tenth Anniversary of the 2011 tornado outbreak
It was 10 years ago on this day when a deadly tornado outbreak rocked the Chattanooga region to its core, in what was among the deadliest outbreaks in modern history. We endured dozens of confirmed tornadoes that…
From the Archives: Easter Services in 1981
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - On this Good Friday, we're taking a look back at Easter services from our past. We're going back 40 years. Our story takes us from Rome to Chattanooga's National Cemetery. We'll see Easter Bonnets and singing crosses.…
News 12 Then: 1991 Bartender Hall of Fame
This story originally aired in 1991 on WDEF TV
Cold Case unit asks for help with 2016 double murder
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) - Cold Case investigators have uncovered new information in a double murder from more than four years ago. A five year old was in the home when his parents were gunned down and he had to call 911.…
News 12 Then: 1990 Cheering the Troops
Chattanoogans rally at interstate overpasses to cheer troops headed to the Persian Gulf
News 12 Then: The Scopes Trial in Dayton
DAYTON, Tennessee (WDEF) - There won't be any big celebration this year, but this is the 95th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial. During this week back in 1925, the nation was reading about what was going on in a…
News 12 Then: The last Easter weekend tornado in 1997
Watch our special report on the 1997 March 29th tornado that hit the same areas of East Brainerd
News 12 Then: Our Swine Flu Germ Quiz from 2010
"Realize.. these are really significant potential problems."
News 12 Then: High end car stereos in 1990
This story originally aired on WDEF TV in March of 1990.
News 12 Then: Harold Wayne Nichols testifies in 1990
Watch our story from 1990 when Harold Wayne Nichols took the stand
Former lawmaker known for 'Copeland Cap' dead at 88
See our story from 1978, the year he passed "The Copeland Cap" that has forced politicians to balance Tennessee's budget ever since.
News 12 Then: College student likes & don't likes from 1994
This story from the UTC campus ran during Spring Break of 1994.
News 12 Then: Hairstyles of the 90s
An Atlanta stylist gives us a demonstration of the changing hair in 1991 From The Archives.
News 12 Then: The Holiday season of 1988
Stories from Christmas trees to Christmas parties and hot toys, plus dreaming of a White Christmas 30 years ago.
Watch George H.W. Bush campaigning in Chattanooga & Dalton
See how President George H.W. Bush looked and sounded at a couple of campaign stops in our area in 1992.
Do you remember these Toy Crazes from the past?
How many of these toys did you get, or stand in line to buy for your kids? (Plus a bonus video of Luther & the Cabbage Patch Kid)
News 12 Then: Looking at the History of Chattanooga's First TV Station
Let's take a look back at the history of our station, which has been a longtime staple here in the Scenic City.
News 12 Then: Presidential Visits to Chattanooga
Visits from the past from Barack Obama, both George Bush's, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt.
News 12 Then: Donald Trump's last big visit to our area
We look back into our archives for when Donald Trump attended a Northwest Whitfield football game.
News 12 Then: The UT Pride of the Southland Band
The history of traditions surrounding the Pride of the Southland Band in this story from 1983.
News 12 Then: Student confessions of 1993
Watch a story that we aired in 1993 on student issues like cheating and drinking.
News 12 Then: The mall wars of the 1980s
In 1988, we checked in to see how rival malls were fairing a year after Hamilton Place opened.
News 12 Then: Remembering the first version of the Scopes Trial play
Watch an early version of the play at the Rhea County courthouse where the Scopes Trial took place.
News 12 Then: The Worm Burger Rumor of 1978
This story from the summer of 1978 tackles the rumor going around that
News 12 Then: GLOW comes to Chattanooga
The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in Chattanooga in 1988
