Years ago

August 7, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Saturday, Aug. 7, the 219th day of 2010. There are 146 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1782: Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.

1789: The U.S. War Department is established by Congress.

1882: The famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupts into full-scale violence.

1942: U.S. and allied forces land at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

1947: The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashes into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago; all six crew members reach land safely.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: A class-action lawsuit is filed by deputies in the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department seeking overtime pay over the last three years.

Youngstown Mayor Jack C. Hunter says he will withdraw backing for the proposed renovation and reopening of the Voyager Motor Inn if the developer fails to provide “solid information” that private financing is in place.

1970: A court-ordered delay is issued on the planned closing of the Route 18 interchange on the Ohio Turnpike.

The Rev. Morris Lee returns from the 12th Baptist World Congress in Tokyo, Japan, where, he says, some groups expressed dissatisfaction with Evangelist Billy Graham’s alliance with President Nixon and Nixon’s policy on the Vietnam War.

Custom-designed rail cars are introduced by Southern Pacific Railroad that will each carry 30 Lordstown-built Vegas that are driven onto loading ramps, battened down and then raised into an upright position for transport.

1960: Supplemental Unemployment Benefit payments to the Youngstown district’s unemployed steelworkers are being hailed by both the industry and union as a blessing to the community in these days of undernourished economic activity.

Six Ursuline nuns celebrating their diamond, golden and silver anniversaries have 200 years of teaching among them. Sister Mary Angela and Sister M. Damian have more than 100 years of teaching between them.

1935: The former H.K. Wick estate on Logan Avenue extension is converted into a dining and dancing establishment without peer in the Youngstown area. It will be known as “The Mansion.”

Jack Whitehead, 83-year-old resident of the Trumbull Home, sets out on his planned 2,000-mile river trip to New Orleans, but soon runs into a problem at a small dam in Niles. Ten off-duty Niles firemen help portage his homemade boat around a 4.5-foot dam.