Years Ago

April 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Saturday, April 3, the 93rd day of 2010. There are 272 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1860: The legendary Pony Express begins carrying mail between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif. (It lasts only 18 months, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph.)

1882: Outlaw Jesse James is shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by a member of his gang.

1936: Bruno Hauptmann is electrocuted in Trenton, N.J. for the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

1946: Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, is executed by firing squad outside Manila.

1974: Deadly tornadoes strike wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada, killing more than 300.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cleveland approves an offer by North Star Steel Co. to purchase the Hunt Steel Co. mini-mill on West Federal Street for $22.5 million.

Faced with declining enrollment and mounting financial pressure, the Howland Board of Education votes to not renew the contracts of 17 teachers and 12 classified employees.

1970: George McCuskey, 55, vice president-finance of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., is named president of the company, succeeding Robert E. Williams, who announced that he was taking “early retirement” to pursue other interests.

More than $2,000 in damage and thefts is reported by 10 motorists who reported their cars vandalized or broken into while parked in the South High School area during a Harlem Globetrotters game.

1960: The Youngstown district needs to develop more good and potential industrial sites to attract new industry, says Carl Gangloff, executive director of the Youngstown Area Development foundation.

On the first day of the census in Youngstown, one canvasser ran into an unusual problem at a Brier Hill home. A mother told him she had 18 children, but she couldn’t remember all their names.

Officials say the Mahoning Valley’s major water control system that includes Berlin, Mosquito Creek and Milton dams saved Valley cities and industries from expensive major flooding during recent heavy rains.

1935: The 7th Ward Civic Association recommends that the Wick plot of 17 acres bounded by Gibson Street, Powersdale Avenue and the Pennsylvania Railroad be purchased by the Board of Control and developed into a playground.