Years Ago

April 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Monday, April 26, the 116th day of 2010. There are 249 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1865: John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, is surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed.

1945: Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France’s Vichy government during World War II, is arrested.

1964: The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.

1968: The United States explodes beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called “Boxcar.”

1986: The world’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: The great “Picnic Table War” erupts in Lisbon between employees at the county Courthouse, who want to be able to eat lunch outside, and village officials, who don’t want picnic tables on the square.

Youngstown developer Edward J. DeBartolo is seeking tax relief for his operation of the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, or says the city could lose his indoor soccer team, the Spirit, and ice hockey team, the Penguins.

1970: The ongoing trucking strike is costing the Youngstown area economy millions of dollars in lost business, which will take months to make up.

Atty. Paul W. Brown, a Youngstown native, comes home to campaign for the Ohio Republican gubernatorial nomination. He faces state Auditor Roger Cloud and U.S. Rep. Donald Lukens.

1960: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. Chairman J.L. Mauthe announces record first-quarter earnings of $12.9 million or $3.70 per share on sales of $198 million.

Safecrackers burn open a safe at the Sealtest Co. office, 715 Erie St., stealing about $5,000 in receipts collected by milk route drivers.

1935: The General Assembly sends Gov. Davey a bill establishing drivers licenses, for which there will be a 25 cent fee, and a liability measure that provides for the loss of the license for serious traffic violations or for failure to pay for damages following an accident.

Ted Luther, the new pro at the Mahoning Valley Country Club, who has spent three years at the Oakmont course in Pittsburgh, announces a May 5 opening of the local 18-hole course.