Local history

50 years ago: 1975

A new car dealership, Montgomery Toyota, opened at 2000 Logan Boulevard between Altoona and Hollidaysburg as it took delivery of 36 new Toyota automobiles on eight delivery trucks.

25 years ago: 1999

The 54 local residents participating in the Foster Grandparents Program, operated by Blair County Senior Services Inc., received a small stipend, funded by both the federal and local government.

10 years ago: 2015

Nader Younes of Pediatric Healthcare Associates in Altoona said that 68% of Blair County kindergartners had been vaccinated for measles/mumps/rubella, far below the state average of 86%.

— Compiled by Tim Doyle

World history

Today is Friday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2025. There are 327 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 7, 1964, the Beatles were met by thousands of screaming fans at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as they arrived to begin their first American tour.

On this date:

— In 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire began; one of the worst city fires in American history, it destroyed over 1,500 buildings in central Baltimore.

— In 1943, the government abruptly announced that wartime rationing of shoes made of leather would go into effect in two days, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person per year. (This was reduced to two pairs per year in 1944; rationing was lifted in October 1945.)

— In 1971, women in Switzerland gained the right to vote through a national referendum, 12 years after a previous attempt failed.

— In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk.

— In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of Haiti. (He was overthrown by the military the following September.)

— In 1999, Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.

— In 2013, Mississippi certified its ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making it the last state to officially abolish slavery.

— The Associated Press