On this date in ...
1918: After one year of service in the war in Europe, a hero who helped transport a large machine gun into battle for the French army while his regiment was nearly annihilated on four separate occasions, until he was finally retired due to shell shock, now lived in Albany. He was trying to learn the basics of the English language. He was owned by Thomas Burke, proprietor of a local monument company. Watervliet native Norman Nightengale, chief boatswain’s mate of the U.S. ship Chatham, gave the military service dog “Fort Garcon” (which translated to “strong boy”) to Burke as a gift once the animal’s discharge was final. Fort Garcon, who resembled a slightly smaller St. Bernard, began his military career making three trips shipping American troops to France.
1968: Although 11 hungry junior college students made news in Albany, the real problem was the more than 30 million starving Americans, claimed the Students Organized against Starvation. The students, all but one local, were staging the four-day hunger fast at the First Unitarian Church in Albany to dramatize and protest the government’s failure to help Americans who were starving to death, according to an adviser to the group. The students were expecting local and national political and religious figures to stop by and offer support.
1993: With Black Friday mere hours away, stores in the Capital Region were already courting customers to get them in the holiday spending mood. At The Limited at both Crossgates and Colonie Center, cookies and refreshments were served all week and shoppers received 15 percent off. Barbara Moss offered 40 percent off everything. At Sears, manager Dennis Litwak hoped the momentum created from a weekend customer appreciation sale would forecast profitable weeks to come. Dona Frank, the marketing director at Colonie Center, said many of the stores had been offering special promotions and two-for-one sales.
Want to read more about the Capital Region’s past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today’s events? See http:// blog.timesunion.com/ history/