Years Ago

August 6, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Friday, Aug. 6, the 218th day of 2010. There are 147 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1806: The Holy Roman Empire goes out of existence as Emperor Francis II abdicates.

1809: One of the leading literary figures of the Victorian era, poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England.

1825: Upper Peru becomes the autonomous republic of Bolivia.

1859: The Australian passenger ship SS Admella, en route from Port Adelaide to Melbourne, strikes a reef off South Australia and breaks apart; of the 113 people on board, only 24 survive.

1890: Convicted murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed in the electric chair as he is put to death at Auburn State Prison in New York.

1926: Gertrude Ederle of New York becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 141/2 hours.

1945: During World War II, the United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths in the first use of a nuclear weapon.

1962: Jamaica becomes an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act.

1978: Pope Paul VI dies at Castel Gandolfo at age 80.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Mahoning County Sheriff Edward Nemeth warns mayors and township trustees of communities using the sheriff’s police dispatch service that it might be terminated unless a monthly fee is paid.

Lego block constructions on display at the Southern Park Mall include replicas of the Liberty Bell and Statue of Liberty.

The 65,000 seats at Cleveland Stadium sell out for the Bruce Springsteen concert in 31/2 hours.

1970: General Motors proudly takes the wraps off its Vega 2300, the tiny car that is having a major economic impact on the Youngstown district.

A committee of three Youngstown councilmen will visit Mahoning County’s Civil Defense shelters within 60 days before committing the city to continued financial support.

1960: Four Sharon, Pa., youths drinking high power beer, the barmaid and a fighting patron are arrested at the Radu’s stateline tavern by Ohio liquor agents.

A 22-year-old Youngstown man arrested by Liberty Township Constable Les Thomas on a morals charge admits to pestering about 200 children while driving the streets over a period of six months.

1935: A petition bearing the signatures of 200 residents of Canfield is submitted to Sheriff Ralph E. Elser asking him not to interfere with dog races at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

Five of the eight employees in the Mahoning County Old Age Pension Office are fired, raising accusations that politics is in play.