Years Ago

Today is Monday, Sept. 14, the 257th day of 2009. There are 108 days left in the year. On this date in 1814, Francis Scott Key is inspired to write a poem after witnessing how Fort McHenry in Maryland had endured a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; that poem, originally called “Defence of Fort McHenry,” later becomes the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the American national anthem.

In 1812, the Russians set fire to Moscow in the face of an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops. In 1836, former Vice President Aaron Burr dies in Staten Island, N.Y., at age 80. In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott take control of Mexico City. In 1901, President William McKinley dies in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeds him. In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan dies in Nice, becomes tangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in. In 1948, a groundbreaking ceremony takes place in New York at the site of the United Nations’ world headquarters. In 1964, Pope Paul VI opens the third session of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as “Vatican II.” (The session closes two months later.) In 1975, Pope Paul VI declares Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first U.S.-born saint. In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, dies at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before; Lebanon’s president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, is killed by a bomb. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert slams into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 5 storm.

September 14, 1984: Ground is broken for the Western Reserve Transit Authority’s $1.5 million terminal at Fifth Avenue and W. Federal Street.

Members of the Trumbull County Farm Bureau launch their petition campaign against high interest rates, citing federal policies that they say are preventing the farm community from recovering economically.

During an address at the University of Notre Dame, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo says most Americans find “invoking religion to advance a politician or a party frightening.” He warns against Roman Catholic leaders enforcing church doctrine on abortion on Catholic politicians who are personally against abortion but are politically pro-choice.

September 14, 1969: General Motors Corp. Is going ahead with a major expansion of its Packard Electric Division plants in Warren, with steelwork going up at the North River Road plant site.

About 50 people, including clergymen and representatives of various organizations, attend a meeting headed by the Rev. Blythe Robinson at Lynkirk Church of Christ in Austintown to plan a “Parade for Decency.”

Thomas Filip, a postal inspector for the Youngstown Post Office, is named president of the Crime Clinic of Greater Youngstown.

September 14, 1959: Coach Dike Beede’s Youngstown University Penguins upset Gustavus Adolphus, 6-0, before 5,000 fans in St. Peter, Minn.

Hundreds of students swarm through the colorful corridors of Youngstown University’s new $1.4 million Science Building on the Bryson Street side of the main campus, south of the library.

The 1959 Parade of Homes opens to the public on Heatherbrae Drive in Poland Township just off Route 224, where 16 new homes ranging in price from $26,500 to $37,000 are on display.

September 14, 1934: Five hundred head of cattle are being slaughtered in Youngstown weekly, shipped east from drought-stricken western states. Much of the meat is being distributed to the poor.

Youngstown City Council President Myron Williams will appoint a committee of beer parlor proprietors to work out their ideas of beer regulation and closing hours before an ordinance is drafted.