Years Ago

Today is Thursday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2009. There are 70 days left in the year. On this date in 1962, President John F. Kennedy announces a quarantine of all offensive military equipment shipped to Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet-built missile bases on the island.

In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin makes the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris. In 1836, Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas. In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York holds its grand opening with a performance of Gounod’s “Faust.” In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover speaks of the “American system of rugged individualism” in a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

October 22, 1984: During a visit to Youngstown, Gov. Richard F. Celeste says Walter Mondale has established himself as a “very, very valid successor” to President Ronald Reagan.

Trumbull County residents would have between three and 20 hours to flee floodwaters in the event of a failure of the Berlin and Lake Milton dams, a controversial study by the county’s Disaster Services Agency reports.

Waterline extensions outside Youngstown’s corporate limits have been halted while Mayor Patrick Ungaro reviews the legality of using annexation as a requirement for providing water service outside the city.

October 22, 1969: The Youngs-town Board of Education’s decision to halt plans for a southeast junior high school draws the ire of area residents during a meeting at Wilson High School. Almost 200 people attend.

John V. McNicholas, who built his company from $100 he borrowed to buy a horse and wagon and was a pioneer in the transportation industry in Youngstown, dies at the age of 91.

The Struthers Board of Education unanimously rejects a fact-finding committee’s recommendation that teachers be given wage increases and minimal hospitalization coverage to end a deadlock in negotiations.

October 22, 1959: The Inter-national Institute hosts the Suma-Ukrainian Youth of America at its annual guest night at Trinity Methodist Church.

Guion Osborn, district commercial manager of Ohio Bell Telephone Co., is named chairman of the 1960 fund campaign for the American Red Cross.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Thomas A. Beil promises to act against obscene literature on county newsstands when a new law goes into effect Nov. 19.

October 22, 1934: Charles G. “Pretty Boy” Floyd is believed to be wounded and trapped in a thicket south of Lisbon. Floyd, who is Public Enemy No. 1 on the Justice Department’s list, is being sought by a posse of 100 men.

Frank H. Nullmeyer, a self-educated man who became a recognized authority in the steel wire industry and an inventor of note as he rose through the ranks of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., dies at his home at 926 Ottawa Drive.