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Local history
50 years ago: 1973
The third annual Horseshoe Curve Festival was to be held from July 30 to Aug. 4, featuring a parade in downtown Altoona and a variety show at Veterans Memorial Field with the Golden Triangles Drum and Bugle Corps of Pittsburgh.
25 years ago: 1998
Dr. Zane Gates of Altoona was to give free medical care to the poor by visiting Fairview Hills, Evergreen Manors, the Salvation Army and Booker T. Washington Center once a week, called Operation Safety Net.
10 years ago: 2013
Baker Mansion in Altoona, home of the Blair County Historical Society, was holding a Civil War Weekend with Civil War reenactors participating.
World history
Today's highlight in history:
On July 28, 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
On this date:
– In 1609, the English ship Sea Venture, commanded by Adm. Sir George Somers, ran ashore on Bermuda, where the passengers and crew founded a colony.
– In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand payments they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945.
– In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing, which had limited people to one pound of coffee every five weeks since it began in November 1942.
– In 1945, A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York's Empire State Building, killing 14 people.
– In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
– In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.