Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2008. There are 316 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 U.S. Marines begin landing on Iwo Jima, where they commence a successful monthlong battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.
In 1803, Congress votes to accept Ohio’s borders and constitution. In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr, accused of treason, is arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in present-day Alabama. (Burr is acquitted at trial.) In 1846, the Texas state government is formally installed in Austin, with J. Pinckney Henderson taking the oath of office as governor. In 1878, Thomas Edison receives a U.S. patent for “an improvement in phonograph or speaking machines.” In 1881, Kansas prohibits the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. In 1942, President Roosevelt signs an executive order that gives the military the authority to relocate and intern U.S. residents, including citizens, of Japanese ancestry.
February 19, 1983: In a 4-1 vote, New Castle City Council raises the annual salary for the mayor from the current $15,500 to $20,000.
U.S. Sen. John Glenn kicks off his 1984 presidential bid with a fund raiser in Columbus that raises $600,000, the largest in Ohio history.
Sheriff James A. Traficant Jr. is released from City Jail after two days after he agrees to sign foreclosure deeds. He says he will follow the law, which requires the sheriff’s signature on foreclosure deeds, but has not given up his fight to stop foreclosures.
February 19, 1968: Police are hunting five or six robbers who tied up two guards at Shenango Ceramics on Glass Street in New Castle and carried off gold paste, cash and stamps valued at $8,824.
Two men accused of armed robbery at the Ma-Fe Club on Market Street in Youngstown have their appearance bonds doubled to $10,000 by Municipal Judge John J. Leskovyansky after he is told that a witness to the robbery received a threatening telephone call.
The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Michael M. Tondra, retired pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Campbell, dies in a Florida hospital after becoming ill while driving near his home in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.
February 19, 1958: Capt. Eugene Koken, a 29-year-old jet pilot from Liberty Township, is killed in a crash near Stewart Air Force Base, N.Y.
Poland Mayor Robert Tatman says a fire that gutted the landmark home of Atty. Franklin B. Powers points up the village’s need for a new fire station.
Gifts to the Youngstown Hospital Association building campaign of $43,414 from management employees of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. and $21,023 from managers and employees of General Fireproofing Co. are announced.
February 19, 1933: More than 560 people from Ohio, including 86 from Youngstown, have made arrangements to go to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Seven people are arrested on liquor charges as Campbell police seize a still and some liquor and Youngstown police raid a home in the Wick Park district.
Burglars enter the home of Stanley Wolfe, 333 Caroline Ave., market editor of The Vindicator, and flee with cigarettes and candy after ransacking the home.