×

On this date

50 YEARS AGO:

July 20, 1968

Eva Streight, one of the first two women sworn in as Altoona policewomen along with Ruth Amos in 1944 by Major H. Atlee Brumbaugh, was still working, being in charge of the police office window at City Hall. Amos retired last year.

25 YEARS AGO:

July 20, 1993

Altoona City Controller Eugene J. “Stu” Duncan said he would not sign a purchase order for $315 to post signs commemorating the Bishop Guilfoyle High School girl’s championship basketball team as requested by city manager Robert Hagemann, saying either the school or the Chamber of Commerce should pay for them.

10 YEARS AGO:

July 20, 2008

Six members of the Northern Blair County Forest Fire Crew, David Lynch crew chief, were in California helping to fight a 40,000-acre wildfire on a two-week rotation basis of 14- to 16-hour days.

–Compiled by Tim Doyle

Today is Friday, July 20, the 201st day of 2018. There are 164 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

– On July 20, 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

On this date:

– In 1861, the Congress of the Confederate States convened in Richmond, Virginia.

– In 1923, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was assassinated by gunmen in Parral.

– In 1942, the first detachment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps — later known as WACs — began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The Legion of Merit was established by an Act of Congress.

– In 1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into northern and southern entities.

– In 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.

– In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching the surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.

– In 1976, America’s Viking 1 robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.

– In 1977, a flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage. The U.N. Security Council voted to admit Vietnam to the world body.

– In 1982, Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in two London parks, killing eight British soldiers, along with seven horses belonging to the Queen’s Household Cavalry.

– In 1989, Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi (soo chee) was placed under house arrest by the military government of Myanmar.

The Associated Press

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today