Years ago

April 30, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Friday, April 30, the 120th day of 2010. There are 245 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1789: George Washington takes office in New York as the first president of the United States.

1803: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

1812: Louisiana becomes the 18th state of the Union.

1859: The Charles Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities” is first published, in serial form.

1939: The New York World’s Fair officially opens with a ceremony that includes an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1945: As Russian troops approach his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler commits suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

1970: President Richard M. Nixon announces the U.S. is sending troops into Cambodia, an action that sparks widespread protest.

1973: President Richard M. Nixon announces the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean.

1980: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates; she is succeeded by her daughter, Princess Beatrix.

1990: Hostage Frank Reed is released by his captives in Lebanon; he is the second American to be released in eight days.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Gov. Richard Celeste speaks at ceremonies marking North Star Steel’s acquisition of the old Brier Hill Works from Hunt Steel Co.

During the next decade, the steel industry in the United States will face continuing pressure from imports and will undergo continued retrenchment, a 159-page report released in Washington, D.C., says.

1970: The Choffin Vocational Park Urban Renewal project on the near North Side is given a boost when City Council unanimously authorizes the board of control to seek federal approval to buy several lots in the area.

The Moyer Co., maker of men’s pants and other clothing in Youngstown, says it will have to lay off 225 workers unless a truck strike that has stopped the flow of raw materials is settled. The company also says the strike has delayed Moyer’s plans to open its new plant in the River Bend area because equipment hasn’t been delivered.

The U.S. Army Engineers and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources conduct an inspection of Youngstown’s 55-year-old Milton Dam and say it urgently needs an expensive program of repairs and maintenance.

Poland Seminary High School’s 85-piece concert band wins Ohio’s highest rating in band competition at Lexington.

1960: Esther B. Wibert, 49, of Newton Falls is killed when an auto driven by her husband hits a B&O train at the N. Leavitt Road crossing.

The Youngstown Park and Recreation Commission completes plans to open the city’s 39 playgrounds and six swimming pools, hiring 266 seasonal employees.

Republic Steel Corp.’s Youngstown Works will cut operations to 57 percent, one of the lowest operating levels since the Great Depression, and will idle additional hundreds of employees.

1935: Four Struthers teachers facing dismissal because they allegedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Struthers Board of Education are told the charges against them during a closed-door meeting with the board. There are rumors that Paul Lisse, Marian Ling, Clarence Pecht and Pearl Keck are under fire for their roles in the Ohio Teachers Federation, an AFL affiliate.

An enthusiastic crowd of 700 to 800 men attend a performance by five female nudists at the Howland Springs dance hall, with the girls escorted through the crowd by burly policemen hired by promoter Al Benson.

Mayor Mark Moore and three Lawrence County, Pa., commissioners go to Washington to lobby for construction of a Mahoning-Beaver rivers canal.

Downtown Youngstown “bug men” contribute $29 to the Community Chest drive for $225,000.