A Look Back: July 25

50 Years Ago

■Mayor Sean M. Dunphy formally announced yesterday that he will seek re-election to a third term. Dunphy, 32, made his long-expected announcement before a crowd of 400 people at the World War II Vets Club on Conz Street.

■Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron hit his 700th career major league home run Saturday night in Atlanta Stadium in Georgia and the ball was caught by a former Northampton resident. The catch by Robert Winborne, 18, who was born in Northampton in 1955, made him an instant celebrity.

25 Years Ago

■President Clinton on Monday will officially designate 10 rivers, including the Connecticut, as American Heritage Rivers, the White House announced Thursday. The initiative gives rivers on the list priority in receiving federal funds for cleanup projects and other programs aimed at developing the rivers’ cultural, economic and recreational potential.

■Aspiring teachers already have suffered the wrath of politicians, parents and pundits disgusted by the high failure rate on the state’s first teacher tests. Now the colleges and universities that trained them face a turn on the firing line. At the University of Massachusetts, 55% of 130 would-be teachers passed the test.

10 Years Ago

■Police are investigating a pre-dawn break-in at the Yes Computers store on Pleasant Street in Northampton on Tuesday. The images of three men wearing hats and dark clothing removing hardware from the store were captured on surveillance video, according to owner Mark Wineburg.

■State environmental regulators are reviewing plans to install a telecommunications facility at the base of an existing 145-foot tower along the eastern ridge of the Mount Tom range. The property is owned by Holyoke Gas & Electric Co. and the planned work high above the cities of Easthampton and Holyoke is within the confines of the existing tower farm along the eastern peak of the range.

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