Years Ago

Today is Saturday, Dec. 5, the 339th day of 2009. There are 26 days left in the year. On this date in 1933, national Prohibition comes to an end as Utah becomes the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

In 1776, the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, is organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. In 1782, the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, is born in Kinderhook, N.Y., the first chief executive to be born after American independence. In 1791, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dies in Vienna, Austria, at age 35. In 1792, George Washington is re-elected president; John Adams is re-elected vice president. In 1831, former President John Quincy Adams takes his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1848, President James K. Polk triggers the Gold Rush of ’49 by confirming that gold has been discovered in California. In 1932, German physicist Albert Einstein is granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States. In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge to form the AFL-CIO under its first president, George Meany. In 1979, feminist Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by the Mormon Church because of her outspoken support for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. In 1994, Republicans choose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

December 5, 1984: Youngstown Mayor Patrick Ungaro says that the city can no longer afford to supply water outside the city limits.

Trooper Gary E. Dolak is named Trooper of the Year at the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Canfield Post.

Delores J. Smith, director of the Warren-Trumbull Community Services Agency, is named the new leader of the Warren-Trumbull Urban League.

December 5, 1969: Common Pleas Judge Forrest J. Cavalier issues a temporary restraining order forbidding the Boardman zoning inspector from issuing a building permit for a funeral home on the old L.A. Beeghly estate at 65905 Market St.

Dr. Alexander K. Phillips is elected president of the medical staff at St. Elizabeth Hospital, succeeding Dr. Raymond Scheetz, president since 1965.

Deputy Simon Koury is elected president of the Youngstown Lodge 1, Fraternal Order of Deputy Sheriffs of Ohio Inc.

The Builders Association of Mahoning Valley is contributing $1,500 to the campaign in support of the Mahoning County Joint Vocational operating levy.

December 5, 1959: The Youngstown Board of Control awards contracts totaling $93,082 for construction of a new fire station on the East Side.

A 26-year-old Canton man faces a life sentence for second-degree murder after being found guilty of driving one of the cars in a drag race that ended with an accident in which three people died.

Ara Parseghian, Northwestern University coach, will headline the annual Chesterton Club football banquet at the Ursuline cafeteria.

The Federal Aviation Agency says it will pay half the $190,000 cost of enlarging a loading apron at the Youngstown Municipal Airport if the city pays the other half.

December 5, 1934: Republic Steel Corp. is spending $500,000 to expand its electric weld pipe mills in Youngstown, part of an expansion program begun in 1930 but never completed because of the depression.

A slice of rock estimated to weigh 200,000 tons drops from Table Rock of the Canadian Falls at Niagara.

The biggest crowds since the Armistice fill Youngstown’s downtown for the opening of the Christmas Window Shopping Carnival. An estimated 50,000 people attend.