Years Ago

Today is Sunday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2009. There are 95 days left in the year. The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins at sunset. On this date in 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrenders after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

In 1779, John Adams is named by Congress to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain. In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean passenger vessel occurs when the steamship SS Arctic sinks off Newfoundland; of the more than 400 people on board, only 86 survive. In 1928, the United States says it is recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government. In 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra perform together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, N.J., prior to Miller’s entry into the Army. In 1954, “Tonight!” hosted by Steve Allen, makes its network debut on NBC-TV. In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev concludes his visit to the United States; Vice President Richard Nixon presides over the farewell ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. In 1964, the government publicly releases the report of the Warren Commission, which finds that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy. In 1979, Congress gives final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education. In 1989, Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. agrees to a $3.4 billion cash buyout by Sony Corp. In 1994, more than 350 Republican congressional candidates gather on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sign the “Contract with America,” a 10-point platform they pledge to enact if voters send a GOP majority to the House.

September 27, 1984: The New Castle Board of Education will seek an injunction to end a strike by the district’s 275 teachers, saying that unless the teachers are back in the classroom by Oct. 15, it will be impossible for students to complete 180 school days.

Warren City Council rejects a $1.25 rate hike by Mahoning Valley Cablevision that would have brought the monthly rate to $10.50.

The Ungaro administration will meet with area banks to discuss details of a plan to subsidize interest rates on loans for new and expanding businesses in Youngstown.

September 27, 1969: About 300 people join a “Parade for Decency” along West Federal Street to Central Square, where the Rev. W. Blythe Robinson, pastor of Lynn-Kirk Church of Christ, said Youngstown should define itself as a “city sick of sin.”

Theodore F. Stevens, U.S. senator from Alaska, will speak at the Giddings Republican Club banquet at the W.D. Packard Music Hall.

At least four people are injured, plate glass windows are smashed and police cars pelted with stones after fights break out in the final minutes of the New Castle-Sharon High School football game in New Castle. Nine state policemen and the city’s entire police force were called on to quell the rioting.

September 27, 1959: “Gamblers dope peddlers and prostitutes trying to tamper with the morals of our young people will find themselves behind bars under a Youngstown Republican administration,” says mayoral candidate Edward J. Gilronan.

With only four days remaining, September is on track to be the driest in the area since records were first kept in Columbiana County in 1892. Normal rainfall for the month is 3.58 inches, but so far there has been only a tenth of that, .35 of an inch.

A conference will be held at the Shenango Inn in Sharon to discuss Sharon’s “A Better City” program.

September 27, 1934: Accusing City Council of an “act of political chicanery,” Mayor Mark E. Moore vetoes a bill that would institute a five-day work week and eliminate 52 jobs.

Lucius B. McKelvey, a member of the Youngstown Federal Housing Commission, says that if $1 million can be released in the city for renovation and repair of homes, it will free up $20 million worth of business.

Tickets go on sale for the Rotary Revue that will be presented at the Palace Theater, with proceeds going to support crippled children.