On this date in ...

1918: The 7-year-old son of train conductor Henry Gilroy of the Altamont locals died at St. Peter’s Hospital from injuries sustained the day before at the Altamont train station. When the elder Gilroy’s train entered the station, Charles C. Gilroy jumped onto the rear platform of the rear couch, but another car was being coupled to the train and the resulting bump knocked the boy off the platform, where both his hands and one foot were cut off by the train’s wheels.

1968: Republican Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson received an unexpected but welcome endorsement from Comptroller Arthur Levitt, a Democrat, at ceremonies dedicating the $900,000 headquarters of the Civil Service Employees Association. Levitt’s endorsement came as he praised Wilson for his staunch support and hard work to get better benefits and salaries for civil servants. But Levitt was quick to add that he wasn’t sure whether his endorsement would hurt or help Wilson in his quest to be governor some day. 1993: Now what? That was the question Jerry Jennings could well be asking himself, as the maverick who snatched Albany’s Democratic mayoral nomination from the organization’s own candidate found himself the party’s standard-bearer for the November election. After years of building a reputation around his battles with Mayor Thomas M. Whalen III and waging a primary on an underdog, outsider image, Jennings, 45, needed to take a serious look at his strategy, political observers said. Most saw it as necessary because Jennings could use the coming months to forge momentum for the city’s next administration.

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.