Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 14, the 287th day of 2009. There are 78 days left in the year. On this date in 1939, during World War II, a German U-boat torpedoes and sinks the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland’s Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard are killed.

In 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeat the English at the Battle of Hastings. In 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, is born in Denison, Texas. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, is shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he goes ahead with a scheduled speech. In 1933, Nazi Germany announces it is withdrawing from the League of Nations.

October 14, 1984: The Ungaro administration is told it must implement an expanded affirmative action plan to give minority contractors a better chance at winning contracts on city jobs or risk losing federal funding for city projects.

Sportsmen’s clubs in Mahoning and Columbiana counties announce their vehement opposition to a proposed Green Township reservoir.

October 14, 1969: President Richard M. Nixon chooses to respond with a personal note to Randall J. Dicks, 19, a Canfield sophomore at Georgetown University, who took issue with a statement the president made at a press conference that he would not be swayed by anti-war protesters. “Any president who allowed his course to be set by those who demonstrate ... would invite anarchy,” Nixon wrote to Dicks.

Sixty-nine tailors who work in downtown Youngstown department and clothing stores and are members of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, end a 13-day strike with the agreement to a new three-year contract.

Four men, including one from Youngstown and one from Warren, are acquitted by a federal jury in Cleveland of bank larceny in the theft of $93,000 from Lorain County Savings & Trust Co. and issue a statement criticizing the bank for laxity in not recognizing that the men were posing as Brinks guards in a manner “bordering on the absurd.”

October 14, 1959: Joseph J. “Fats” Aiello is indicted by the Mahoning County grand jury for cashing a $28,500 check without sufficient funds in the bank.

The Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers is supporting a levy for the new Mahoning County Home for the Aged on the November ballot.

Atty. William VanAken, former president of the Ohio Bar Association, speaks at a luncheon at the Mural Room sponsored by Mahoning County Republicans and urges the defeat of Frank R. Franko, who is running for Youngstown mayor. VanAken discussed his knowledge of Franko’s suspension from the practice of law while Franko was a municipal court judge.

October 14, 1934: Home building is at a virtual standstill in Youngstown with only four houses built in the first six months of the year.

Men and women nudists toss off their clothes and go swimming at the opening of the National Nudists Convention near Sharon Center, 12 miles west of Akron, while guards with rifles keep the curious public out.

The history of East Liverpool is depicted in a gala parade on the third day of a four-day celebration of the city’s centennial.