Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 11, the 315th day of 2009. There are 50 days left in the year. This is Veterans Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day in Canada. On this date in 1918, fighting in World War I comes to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, sign a compact calling for a “body politick.” In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who’d led a violent insurrection, is executed in Jerusalem, Va. In 1889, Washington becomes the 42nd state. In 1909, President William Howard Taft accepts the recommendation of a joint Army-Navy board that Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands be made the principal U.S. naval station in the Pacific. In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member are interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding. In 1929, the Ambassador Bridge spanning the Detroit River between Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, is dedicated. In 1966, Gemini 12 blasts off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. aboard. In 1968, the Republic of Maldives is declared. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. chief executive to address the Diet, Japan’s national legislature. In 1984, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. — father of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. — dies in Atlanta at age 84.

November 11, 1984: During a visit to the Mahoning Valley, Gov. Richard F. Celeste says he will continue pushing for state aid to the Valley even after Republicans take control of the Senate in July.

John F. Kennedy High School of Warren scores 115 points to win the season’s first local speech tournament, held at Boardman High School.

Youngstown State University’s chances for a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship evaporate with a 35-7 loss to Murray State University.

November 11, 1969: Former astronaut John H. Glenn says he will move to Columbus to begin an active campaign for the U.S. Senate.

The Ohio Board of Education agrees to extend its share of the funds for the Choffin Vocational School for another year to allow time to acquire land through urban renewal.

Betty Chicase, 45, manager of the Lawson Dairy Store on Kenmore Ave., is shot in the thigh as she interrupted a holdup at the store.

November 11, 1959: The 116-day shutdown of the steel industry brought some fish back, temporarily, to the Mahoning River. The fish apparently ventured from upper tributaries into the river when polluted waters were cleaned out by fresher water during the strike.

The City Planning Commission votes 5-1 to approve a commercial zone change that will allow construction of engineering offices for Lombard Corp. at 631 Wick Ave.

Youngstown pays tribute to veterans of World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict with its annual parade, featuring nine bands and members of the armed forces.

November 11, 1934: The million-dollar estate of the late Henry K. Wick on Logan Road is up for sale and the collection of paintings and antiques will go on the auction block.

Youngstown is one of two Ohio cities in which the automobile death rate decreased in a year, the U.S. Bureaus of the Census reports.

The Rev. J.W. Van Kirk, who resigned a pastorate at Grace M.E. Church 30 years ago to begin a mission that took him around the world three times, returns to his home at 1314 Shehy St. and will confine future missionary activity to Youngstown.