On this date in ...

1918: Nicholas J. Fitzgerald

Jr. of Madison Avenue in Albany, just a couple years after he was the valedictorian of his class at Albany High, was awarded a commission to second lieutenant in the U.S. Army at only the age of 20 due to the unusual abilities he displayed at the Plattsburgh military training camp. Meanwhile, Rev. John Mccann, formerly assistant pastor of St. John’s Church in Rensselaer, was awaiting his commission as army chaplain at Camp Taylor in Louisville, Ky.

1968: East Greenbush police officers and firefighters averted a potential disaster as they managed to keep about 10,000 gallons of gasoline leaking from a storage tank from igniting or exploding. Sun Oil Col. officials estimated the highly flammable fluid from its storage tank at Tellers Crossing in Rensselaer County went into the ground, the result of too much gas being loaded into the tank. Every road was blocked off and all houses more than a mile in every direction of Tellers Crossing were evacuated, the Penn-central Railroad slowed down or stopped all trains running through the area and a company workman in the area with a lit pipe had to be convinced to put it out.

1993: Saratoga County officials said that they took the first step to determine the cause of worsening odor problems at the county sewage treatment plant. Over the past three days, air and waste water samples were taken by engineers from Stearns and Wheler of Cazenovia, the firm hired to study the problem. Results of the tests, which would be used to design a permanent way to control odor, were expected in October. Smells from the 17-year-old plant, located just off routes 4 and 32 near the Hudson River, had long been the source of complaints. In recent weeks the smell had worsened, fueling more complaints, including some from Rensselaer County communities.