50 years ago: Blair County Civil Defense Director Col. Lloyd Morris said that some of the city’s warning sirens had been sent for repair and received back and they would be tested at 11 a.m. the next several Mondays.

25 years ago: Nineteen food vendors took part in the annual Culinary Carousel, held at the Ramada Inn in Altoona, to benefit the American Cancer Society. At least 750 — believed to be a record — attended the event.

10 years ago: The Blair County District Attorney’s office announced that Sue Griep, Blair County’s Victim Witness coordinator, was to receive the 2015 Governor’s Pathfinder Victim Services Award. She had held the position since 2000.

Today is Thursday, April 17, the 107th day of 2025. There are 258 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 17, 1961, some 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion within three days.

On this date:

– In 1964, Jerrie Mock completed the first solo around-the-world flight by a woman, landing her single-engine Cessna plane in Columbus, Ohio after a 29-day journey.

– In 1969, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. (Sirhan’s death sentence would be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He remains in prison today.)

– In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while enroute to the moon.

– In 1972, the Boston Marathon allowed women to compete for the first time. Nina Kuscsik was the first officially recognized women’s champion, with a time of 3:10:26.

– In 1975, Cambodia’s five-year civil war ended as the capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, which instituted brutal, radical policies that claimed an estimated 1.7 million lives until the regime was overthrown in 1979.

– In 1993, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King. Two other officers were acquitted.