YEARS AGO

August 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Thursday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2010. There are 148 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1864: During the Civil War, Union Admiral David G. Farragut leads his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala.

1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal is laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.

1924: The comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,” by Harold Gray, makes its debut.

1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the National Labor Board, which is later replaced with the National Labor Relations Board.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Joe Namath, who played his high school football in Beaver Falls, Pa., and his pro ball with the New York Jets, is enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. asks the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to re-evaluate its decision to allow East Ohio Gas Co. to charge all its customers for its “uncollectable” bills.

1970: The Youngstown Transit Co. will end bus service leaving 8,000 riders without ready transportation and 85 employees out of work.

Youngstown area police departments field a number of calls of a mysterious flying object in the night sky. The Youngstown Municipal Airport says it was the Goodyear blimp.

On a 50-18 vote, the U.S. Senate approves an extension of unemployment benefits for 4.5 million Americans, sending the bill to President Nixon for his signature.

1960: Prof. Kenneth Kitchen, dean of the Dana School of Music, resigns to pursue his doctorate at the University of Michigan. Dr. Howard Jones, president of Youngstown University, will serve as interim dean.

U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy, Democratic presidential candidate, is tentatively scheduled to appear in Youngstown and Warren Sept. 27.

1935: Warren Policeman John Drinco and two Cleveland girls are injured when Drinco’s airplane crashes at a picnic grounds two miles south of Warren.

After months of comparative quiet, the Republican National Committee promises a vigorous anti-New Deal offensive to oust President Roosevelt and Democrats in the 1936 election.