Years Ago

Today is Thursday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2009. There are 49 days left in the year. On this date in 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins. (The Allies end up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

In 1815, American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton is born in Johnstown, N.Y. In 1908, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun is born in Nashville, Ill. In 1927, Josef Stalin becomes the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Communist Party. In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders are sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal. In 1977, the city of New Orleans elects its first black mayor, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, the winner of a runoff. In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov is elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee. In 1984, space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snare a wandering satellite in history’s first space salvage; the Palapa B2 satellite is secured in Discovery’s cargo bay for return to Earth. In 1990, Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne. In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collides shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.

November 12, 1984: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops issues a policy statement calling for “Economic democracy.” Youngstown Bishop James W. Malone, president of the conference, says religious leaders face a moral obligation to take stands on national issues.

Mahoning Valley residents awake to discover the first measurable snowfall of the season.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awards a $225,000 grant to Dr. Janet Del Bene, Youngstown University Chemistry professor, to conduct a three-year computerized study of certain chemical interactions.

November 12, 1969: The Mahoning County Joint Vocational School Board starts a fund to finance a campaign for passage of a half-mill operating levy in a special election in December.

About 12,000 watchers give a warm welcome to the annual Veterans Day parade.

Sherene Beene, 17, a senior at Chaney High School, is one of 130 Senior Girl Scouts invited to watch the launch of the Apollo 12 moon mission from Cape Canaveral.

November 12, 1959: Union National Bank management is working on a plan to increase the bank’s outstanding stock from 125,000 to 300,000 shares by a 2-for-1 split and a 20 percent dividend.

The Jackson Township Zoning Commission unanimously endorses a proposed $23 million industrial park at Route 18 and Bailey Road in North Jackson.

Andrew Hamady, a junior at Youngstown University, will produce and direct the first play of the new season for the department of speech and drama, Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People.”

November 12, 1934: A crowd of men, women and children estimated at 3,400 jam Stambaugh Auditorium to hear the Youngstown Little Symphony Orchestra’s concert.

Mrs. Margaret Callan, mother of four boys who went to fight in the World War, dies on Armistice Day at the age of 74. Three of the boys, including Harry, who would go on to become Youngstown Fire Chief, returned. One, Thomas, did not.

The Republic Steel Corp. resumes blast in an additional blast furnace at its Haselton plant, but district output remains at only 29 percent.