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June 28, 1950
A specially made stunt plane, piloted by Dick McPherson, landed at the Duncansville Airport after McPherson had participated in an air show at Rochester, N.Y. It had built-in whistles, horns and bells that he controlled by hand and the front of the craft was open and contained the pilot's seat.
June 28, 1975
Sharon Biddle, a senior at Williamsburg High School, was crowned Blair County Dairy Princess for 1975 in ceremonies at the Sheraton Motor Inn in Altoona. She was a member of 4-H in clothing, cooking, home furnishings, photography, baby beef, swine and advisory board.
June 28, 2000
Thomas Stappas, 50, of Pittsburgh was killed in an accident at Mansion Park when a scaffold tipped over while he was painting the seating structure. Brian Artko of Cresson was injured. They worked for Panthera Painting Inc. of Canonsburg, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating.
June 28, 2015
Valley View Home, which was sold by Blair County and managed by Reliant Senior Care Management, had admissions halted by the state Department of Health for several areas of deficient practices.
June 29, 1950
A group of 72 Boy Scouts from the Blair-Bedford District gathered at Altoona City Hall before marching to the train station for a trip to Valley Forge for the National Jamboree, where 47,000 Scouts and Scout leaders from every state and a dozen foreign countries were gathered.
An 85-ton diesel-powered railroad track sweeper was completed at the Altoona Works of the PRR and was being used on the Middle Division. PRR engineer John F. Piper said that a steel broom between two trucks was capable of sweeping enough dirt from the tracks to fill five rail cars in one day.
June 29, 1975
Phillip W. Fair Jr., 62, a reporter for the Altoona Mirror for 35 years who suffered with multiple sclerosis for 30 years, being confined to a wheelchair, retired today. He was touring England in 1939 as a civilian when WWII broke out and witnessed a German sub sink English aircraft carrier HMS Courageous and his freighter helped rescue survivors and he radioed coverage to UPI. He was an Army veteran of WWII and worked for the Altoona Tribune, Mays News Service in D.C., United Press International in Philadelphia and Atlanta, Ga. and was a sports editor in Monongahela.
June 29, 2000
Altoona native Harry E. Slep III was honored by Giant Food Stores Inc. by having a distribution center in Carlisle named for him and awarding him the Nick Riso Outstanding Achievement Award for his contributions to Giant. It was only the third time the award was ever given. He retired in 1999.
Galactic Inc. in Lakemont held a grand opening June 28 with special guest Dick Button, who had won two Olympic gold medals and all three major skating titles, the United States, North America and World titles. He won an Emmy as a broadcaster for ABC television.
June 29, 2015
Rachel Albright of Altoona, a graduate of Bellwood-Antis High School and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was undergoing training to be a Peace Corps volunteer for 27 months in Swaziland, a small country in southern Africa.
Bishop Mark L. Bartchak and Bishop Emeritus Joseph V. Adamec held a Mass at DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton on Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese Faith Day while the Cathedral Catholic Academy Youth Chorale performed. It was also Diocesan Picnic Day.