Bound Volumes, Hometown History
May 28, 2026
160 YEARS
May 1866
70 YEARS AGO
The first phase of a four-part survey to determine the economic need of establishing a commercial airport in this area will begin today (Tuesday, May 29, 1956). More than 1,500 questionnaires to determine the extent of use an airport would receive by students and faculty of the two local colleges will be distributed to the schools this afternoon, according to Dr. Leroy S. House, chairman of the city committee on establishing an airport in this area. Dr. Milton A. Ritchie, president of Hartwick, and Dr. Royal S. Netzer, president of Oneonta State Teacher’s College agreed to circulate the forms to students and return them as soon as possible. “This is the first part of a program being carried out by the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Dr. House said. Three more parts of the survey will be conducted at a later date. The questionnaires will also be available at local businesses.
May 1956
50 YEARS AGO
Digital Computers—The Latest Craze—“One day at school I saw this funny-looking thing with blinking lights,” said 17-year-old Roger Walker of his first encounter with the nation’s newest hobby—the digital computer. “I dropped in to see what it was. Then, I just kept coming back. I really got hooked on it,” added Walker. Computers—for a long time vastly expensive machines requiring platoons of technicians, programmers, mathematicians and engineers to run—now are being sold and used by amateurs. It is happening, the same way ham radios and high-fidelity sets passed into the hands of hobbyists of earlier generations. This hobby didn’t exist five years ago.
May 1976
30 YEARS AGO
A head-on collision took the life of Delaware Academy honors student Michael Leddy while injuring four others on State route 10 in the Town of Delhi. Leddy, a 12th grade, 18-year-old, honors student was scheduled to graduate from Delaware Academy next month. Leddy was a four-year member of the varsity soccer team and often performed in choir, orchestra and dramatic productions. He was to be an exchange student in Turkey this year and planned to attend Pratt Institute on an art scholarship.
May 1996
