Local history

50 years ago: 1975

Five people, one from Altoona, one from Hollidaysburg and three from Alexandria, were killed in a violent two-car collision on an icy Route 220 near Water Street. Two others were in critical condition at J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital.

25 years ago: 2000

For National Nutrition Month, students at Pleasant Valley Elementary School served themselves 11 gallons of milk, five boxes of cereal, three loaves of bread, four dozen bananas, seven gallons of orange juice and seven dozen eggs.

10 years ago: 2015

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf visited the Pleasant Valley Elementary School, Tom Otto superintendent, to talk about his proposed 2015-16 state budget and said the Altoona Area School District would get a $2.2 million increase, raising the state income tax to decrease the burden on property taxpayers.

— Compiled by Tim Doyle

World history

Today is Monday, March 10, the 69th day of 2025. There are 296 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 10, 1959, thousands of Tibetans rebelled against occupying Chinese forces, surrounding the Dalai Lama’s palace to protect him from potential harm. Fierce fighting between Tibetans and Chinese forces ensued in the following days, causing the Dalai Lama to flee Tibet for India, where he remains in exile today.

On this date:

— In 1496, Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain.

— In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant, Thomas Watson, heard Bell say over his experimental telephone: “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you” from the next room of Bell’s Boston laboratory; they were the first words ever conveyed by telephone.

— The Associated Press