Years Ago
Today is Wednesday, Sept. 23, the 266th day of 2009. There are 99 days left in the year. On this date in 1952, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, R-Calif., facing calls to withdraw as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s running mate, goes on television to defend himself against allegations of improper campaign fundraising. The address, which comes to be known as the “Checkers” speech because of Nixon’s on-air reference to a dog given to his family as a gift, proves highly successful in rallying public support for keeping Nixon on the GOP ticket.
In 1779, during the Revolutionary War, the American warship Bon Homme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeats the HMS Serapis in battle. In 1780, British spy John Andre is captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point to the British. In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returns to St. Louis more than two years after setting out for the Pacific Northwest. In 1846, Neptune is identified as a planet by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
September 23, 1984: Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste says President Reagan should explain to Youngs-towners his refusal to grant U.S. steelmakers import protection. Reagan said import quotas are “my opponent’s policy and just like his tax increase, it’s the wrong policy.”
The Brainard Stripping Division of the Sharon Steel Corp. is building a new strapping plant in Rock Hill, S.C.
September 23, 1969: Niles police are seeking a Youngstown man as a suspect in a daring $11,300 stick up at the Village Center Branch of the Niles Bank Co.
Construction in the Youngstown area comes to a virtual standstill as most building trades unions stay off the job to honor John Sawaska of Hubbard, a 26-year-old ironworker who was shot and killed in labor violence at a construction site in Lordstown.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Vincent Gilmartin argues in U.S. District Court in Cleveland that Youngstown authorities had the right to confiscate two prints of the movie “I Am Curious (Yellow)” from the State Theater because “obscenity is not protected by the Constitution.”
September 23, 1959: Strikers at Republic Steel Corp. who adopted a six-year-old boy during weeks of picketing find out he didn’t want to go home for good reason, he and his eight brothers and sisters live in filth, neglected by their parents. Juvenile court authorities are called in.
A Vindicator straw poll shows Youngstown Republicans favor Vice President Richard Nixon and Democrats U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy as their parties presidential nominees.
Steel shortages brought on by the 11-week-old steel strike are tightening their grip on steel customers and are bringing layoffs in steel-consuming plants, including many in the Youngstown area.
September 23, 1934: More than 100,000 fingerprints and many photographs of criminals are on file in the Youngstown Police Department, says Police Chief Leroy Goodwin, the father of the system.
The arrest of Bruno Hauptmann in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby recalls the abduction of 11-year-old James DeJute of Niles the following day in March 1932. The DeJute boy was rescued four days later and his three abductors are serving time in the Ohio Penitentiary.