On this date in ...

The Albany Chamber of Commerce held a mass meeting at Harmanus Bleecker Hall to open the United War Work campaign to be waged all week to raise $17,500,000 to care for local fighting men overseas. Albany’s share was to come out of the War Chest, and Sen. Henry M. Sage, president of the War Chest, made an appeal for all subscribers to pay their pledges, as a matter of honor for not just themselves but the City of Albany. 1968: The USS Albany, guided missile cruiser, was sent back to the fleet in colorful ceremonies, undiminished by a cold gray afternoon at Boston Naval Shipyard. Named for the capital of New York state, the 17,000-ton vessel had just completed a 21-month conversion and was viewed as the most modern, sophisticated missile cruiser in the fleet. Speaking before a crowd of 1,000 at Pier 7, Albany Mayor Erastus Corning said from the stern of the ship that Albanians were proud of their lifelong relationship with the “most powerful ship of its kind in the world.”

1993: Albany Building Commissioner Michael Haydock padlocked Club Xxxotica, the controversial nude juice bar at 8 Central Ave., after obtaining a restraining order barring its operators from opening or even occupying the premises. Haydock and three plainclothes city detectives marched into the non-alcoholic bar, confronted Club Xxxotica’s manager and a troupe of nine startled strippers, and told them to vacate the building immediately. Haydock took the eviction action after obtaining a temporary restraining order against Club Xxxotica from state Supreme Court Judge Edward S. Conway.

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/