Local news on this date

July 26, 1950

Company D, 6th infantry battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, Capt. William C. Bell commanding, became the third Blair County military reserve unit to be called to active duty due to the Korean War. About 170 men were to leave for Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

July 26, 1975

Mercy Hospital, Dr. S. Victor King medical staff director, announced that a laminar airflow system had been installed in one of its six surgical suites to provide an ultra clean environment for surgical procedures and maximum contamination control.

July 26, 2000

Altoona City Council decided to stick with its moment of silence before meetings rather than say a prayer saying it was too risky for complaints and lawsuits. The courts allowed prayers as long as they were non-denominational.

July 26, 2015

The EADS Group of Altoona, Janet Helsel marketing director, was partnering with PennDOT to clean up litter from area roads. It had been a member of the Adopt-A-Highway program for 20 years.

July 27, 1950

The Altoona Girl Scout Council, a member of the Altoona Community Chest and a Red Feather agency, met at Camp Blue Knob to make plans to form a veterans information and referral center. William H. Haller was Community Chest president.

The Altoona Drive-Yourself Co. at 1020 Green Ave. was marking its 25th year in business. It was one of the first car-truck rental firms to affiliate with the national Hertz Drive-Yourself or Hertz Car Rental Co. and had rented out thousands of cars and trucks since being formed.

July 27, 1975

The Blair County Bar Association, Attorney Thomas Reese chairman of the legal aid committee, voted to form a Legal Aid Unit to provide free legal services to the poor. They donated $6,000 to start the unit and were asking the Blair County commissioners for $6,000 more.

The Altoona Family YMCA, James Angus president, opened a special savings account at Mid-State Bank & Trust Co. to save enough money to construct handball and paddleball courts next to the Y on Lexington Avenue. The goal was $25,000 with Edward Petsonk as project chairman.

July 27, 2000

The Altoona Shade Tree Commission, Jim Winsor secretary, was trying to find out who poisoned five of 70 ash trees that were planted 10 years ago in a streetscape project along 17th Street from Pleasant Valley Boulevard up to around First Avenue.

A $1 million streetscape project in Hollidaysburg along South Juniata Street was nearing completion after five years. In three phases: Kelly Park playground, sidewalk and curb replacement, tree planting, storm sewer work and South Juniata Street/Blair Street intersection improvement were done.

July 27, 2015

Juniata College, Dennis Johnson assistant professor of environmental science, had partnered with the Little Juniata River Association, Bill Anderson president, to study brown trout when the water went above 70 degrees, which the trout couldn’t survive in.

The Altoona and Patton Fire Departments with the International Association of Firefighters Union, were holding a program called “Fire Ops 101” at the Cambria County Fire School to educate people on various fire safety procedures and equipment.

Compiled by Tim Doyle

National, world news on this date

July 26

In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.

In 1863, Sam Houston, former president of the Republic of Texas, died in Huntsville at age 70.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America’s armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the U.S. military.

In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America’s fourth successful manned mission to the moon.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibiting discrimination based on mental or physical disabilities.

July 27

In 1940, Billboard magazine published its first “music popularity chart” listing best-selling retail records. In first place was “I’ll Never Smile Again” recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra.

In 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in Hollywood, Fla., and was later murdered (Adam’s father, John Walsh, subsequently became a victims’ rights activist and, in 1988, launched and hosted the television show “America’s Most Wanted”).

In 1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, directly killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating security guard Richard Jewell, who had been wrongly suspected.)

In 2013, security forces and armed men clashed with supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, killing at least 72 people.

The Associated Press