Years Ago

Today is Thursday, Aug. 13, the 225th day of 2009. There are 140 days left in the year. On this date in 1961, Berlin is divided as East Germany seals off the border between the city’s eastern and western sectors and begins building a wall in order to halt the flight of refugees.

In 1521, Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez captures Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, from the Aztecs. In 1624, King Louis XIII of France appoints Cardinal Richelieu his first minister. In 1704, the Battle of Blenheim is fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English-led forces over French and Bavarian soldiers. In 1846, the American flag is raised for the first time in Los Angeles. In 1910, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, dies in London at age 90.

August 13, 1984: The doors of 121 banks and mortgage companies in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties open to about 300 people waiting to fill out applications for 11.8 percent, fixed rate 30-year mortgages.

Commercial Shearing Inc. announces that it will construct a $1 million preheating system at its Logan Avenue foundry.

Some Youngstown Street Department employees are having second thoughts about taking back wages won in court now that it has become evident that the city will have to make layoffs in order to come up with the money. Twenty-three employees sign a petition asking that they receive additional vacation days rather than cash payments.

August 13, 1969: At least three more men are being sought for questioning in the near-execution of a Youngstown man who was an expelled Muslim. Seven people, including one juvenile, have been arrested on a variety of charges.

The Austintown Board of Education will place renewal of a 6.1-mill levy on the November ballot.

Coming to the 1969 Canfield Fair: RCA recording star Jimmy Dean, Danny Fleenor’s Hurricane Thrill Show, the Vogues and Bobby Vinton.

August 13, 1959: Sharon police are on the lookout for a smooth-talking man who has swindled at least one local resident by treating his driveway with defective sealant.

The Mahoning National Bank opens its new Cornersburg Branch, which features a silver maple tree growing through an opening in the entranceway.

Mount Carmel Boy Scout Troop 36 from Niles, including 51 Scouts and 11 leaders, visits Washington, D.C., and poses with Congressman Michael J. Kirwan of Youngstown on the steps of the Capitol.

August 13, 1934: Two North Side beer gardens, the Ritz Beer Garden and the Dutch Mill, are ordered closed indefinitely by police after a free-for-all fight in which five people were injured.

On a trip to Thistledown near Cleveland, Youngstown Mayor Mark E. Moore and Finance Director Hugh Hindman play the mayor’s hunch and buy a “quinell” ticket at the eighth race that pays $1.290 each on their $22 bets. Because the mayor had a hunch about a long-shot named Brown Admiral, the pair bought 11 tickets each, coupling the Admiral with every other horse in the race. When Brown Admiral and another long shot, Night Edition, ran first and second, Moore and Hindman hit the jackpot.

The Youngstown Municipal Railway Co. agrees to continue the $1 weekly bus and street car pass for another 60 days, delaying a planned 25-cent increase.