Today in history

Today is Sunday, May 10, the 130th day of 2009. There are 235 days left in the year. This is Mother’s Day. On this date in 1869, a golden spike is driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

In 1774, Louis XVI accedes to the throne of France. In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Col. Benedict Arnold, capture the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, N.Y. In 1865, Union forces capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga. In 1908, the first Mother’s Day observance in the United States, inspired by Anna Jarvis, takes place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia. In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover is given the job of FBI director. In 1933, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings in Germany. In 1940, during World War II, German forces begin invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. That same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns, and Winston Churchill forms a new government. In 1968, preliminary Vietnam peace talks begin in Paris. In 1978, Britain’s Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon announce they are divorcing after 18 years of marriage. In 1984, the International Court of Justice says the United States should halt any actions to blockade Nicaragua’s ports (the U.S. had already said it would not recognize World Court jurisdiction on this issue).

May 10, 1984: Hermitage residents will get a 20 percent reduction in garbage fees under a new three-year contract with Waste Management Partners of New Castle. The new charge will be 38 cents per bag.

Warren City Council approves a 20-year, $3 million master plan to develop a Braceville Township airport

Mayor Patrick Ungaro wants to spend an estimated $40,000 to construct eight office spaces in the municipal parking garage, Plaza Place, with the hope of attracting tenants.

May 10, 1969: Paul Casey, 20, a volunteer track coach from St. Stephen School in Niles, is killed and five people, including three members of the track team, are injured when a tractor trailer slams into a school bus at Starrs Corners. The bus was en route to a diocesan track meet at Boardman High School.

A former president of the Ohio Medical Association endorses as a “novel idea” the establishment of a medical school in northeastern Ohio to be operated by a consortium of universities, which would include Youngstown State University.

Mayor Anthony B. Flask says he thinks the proposal for a downtown convention center-arena complex is attractive, but requires thorough study before a city commitment is made.

May 10, 1959: The biggest single step in the expansion of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., the $50 million expansion of the Campbell Works, is in full swing.

The Mahoning County Democratic Party was shocked by the mayoral primary victory of Frank R. Franko, and it may be several weeks before it is determined what line the fall campaign will follow, writes Vindicator Political Editor Clingan Jackson.

Some stores in the huge, $10 million Austintown Plaza will open in the summer, says developer Edward J. DeBartolo.

May 10, 1934: Mayor Mark E. Moore is planning to change the specifications for trucks to be used in hauling garbage in the city so that his friend, C.W. Barnhouse of Toledo, will sell the trucks for collection no matter who gets the collection contract.

President Roosevelt adds an estimated $417 million to the nation’s annual revenue by signing the 1934 tax bill, which will increase taxes on higher incomes, gifts, estates corporations and personal holding companies.

The depressing, adverse freight rates, heavy taxes and changing mechanical conditions in the steel industry have taken a heavy toll in industrial plants in the Youngstown district since 1929, during which about 8,250 steel industry jobs were lost.