Thirty years ago this week the space shuttle Challenger exploded during liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, 74 seconds into its mission. All seven astronauts were killed in the explosion including Christa McAuliffe, a school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. It was the first in-flight disaster in 56 manned space missions, recalled former astronaut John Glenn. He also recalled the three astronauts killed in a launch-pad training accident during the Apollo program 19 years earlier.

Also this week, New England patriot's coach Raymond Berry told the Boston Globe that 10 to 12 of his players have a problem with drugs. He said there were five players having a serious problem with drugs and another five to seven players with suspected problems. He did not release the names of any of the players. He also made the announcement that day after the Patriots were defeated by the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX 46-10.

Ten years earlier the 1976 campaign for President continues with Democratic hopeful George Wallace making a campaign stop in Chicopee.

These are some of the headlines you'll see from Page 1 of The Republican and its predecessors over the past fifty years for the week of January 24 - January 30. Each week I'll put together a slideshow of Page 1 images from selected years over the course of that week. We're starting with a look back at one, five, thirty, forty and fifty years ago, with Page 1s from each day of the week for those years.

The slideshow for January 24 - January 30 is embedded at the top of this article.

From the January 27, 1996 edition of The Springfield Union.

We'll also find some humor printed out on page one over the years. In 1966 'Dennis The Menace' could be found on the bottom of page one six days a week. Selected comics from the

Comics page

can be found on MassLive.

Five years ago a story of hundreds of cars ticketed and towed as drivers ignore parking bans across the region during a snowy winter.

And a year ago, winter storm Juno walloped eastern Massachusetts, but left the region with 6 to 12 inches of snow. Some Springfield residents were still upset with their driveways being plowed in, and started throwing snow balls and ice chucks at the passing plows cracking the window of one truck. Springfield Department of Public Works called in a police cruiser to escort the plow as it finished its job.

Later in the week, the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown made a bet with the Seattle Art Museum over the outcome of the upcoming Super Bowl. The loser of the bet would ship a select painting to the victor for a three month exhibit.

You'll find with looking through the slideshow, that while many stories come and go, many of the issues and topics that affected lives in the past, continue to have an impact on our lives today.

Copies of these and other stories can be found in the online archives. Links to the archives are at the bottom of the page at www.masslive.com/republican

The historic archive includes stories prior to 1989, and the Newsbank archive covers 1988 through the present day.

