Local history

50 years ago: Four girls from Girl Scout Cadet Troop 529 were presented first class awards at a four-troop meeting at St. Mary’s Memorial Hall: Karen Kull, Mary Jo Roesch, Anita Lang and Debbie Amrhein.

25 years ago: State Attorney General Mike Fisher attended a parents meeting on school violence at Logan Elementary School, sponsored by the Blair County Drug and Crime Awareness Committee. Kathy O’Rourke, chairwoman of the Altoona Area School District guidance committee, helped moderate the program.

10 years ago: Fort Roberdeau, Glenn Nelson director, was honored by the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society for its Veterans Recognition Program in ceremonies at Seven Springs Resort.

— Compiled by Tim Doyle

World history

Today is Monday, March 23, the 82nd day of 2026. There are 283 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 23, 1998, “Titanic” tied an Academy Awards record by winning 11 Oscars, including best picture, best director for James Cameron and best original song for “My Heart Will Go On.”

On this date:

– In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered an address to the Virginia Provincial Convention in which it is said he declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

– In 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their return to St. Louis, Missouri, after completing the first U.S. overland expedition to the Pacific coast. The explorers had begun their journey from St. Louis in May 1804 and trekked thousands of miles to and from the coast.

– In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy.

– In 1933, the German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers.

– In 1942, the first Japanese Americans incarcerated by the U.S. Army during World War II arrived at the internment camp at Manzanar, California.

– In 1965, America’s first two-person space mission took place as Gemini 3 blasted off with astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young aboard for a nearly five-hour flight orbiting Earth.

– In 1993, scientists announced they’d identified the gene that causes Huntington’s disease.

– In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a $938 billion health care overhaul aimed at making health insurance more accessible and affordable in the U.S.

– In 2021, a cargo ship the size of a skyscraper ran aground and became wedged in the Suez Canal; hundreds of ships would be prevented from passing through the canal until the vessel was freed six days later.

Today’s birthdays:

Singer Chaka Khan, 73.

Basketball Hall of Fame coach

Geno Auriemma, 72.

Fashion designer Kenneth Cole, 72.

Actor Amanda Plummer, 69.

Actor Hope Davis, 62.

Musician Damon Albarn, 58.

Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, 53.

Actor Randall Park, 52.

Actor Michelle Monaghan, 50.

Actor Keri Russell, 50.

Country singer Brett Young, 45.

Actor Vanessa Morgan, 34.

Actor Victoria Pedretti, 31.

– The Associated Press