Years Ago

February 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2010. There are 331 days left in the year. On this date in 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sinks after being hit by a German torpedo; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survive. Four Army chaplains give their life belts to four other men, and go down with the ship.

In 1809, German composer Felix Mendelssohn is born in Hamburg. Congress passes an act establishing the Illinois Territory effective March 1. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens hold a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast; the talks deadlock over the issue of Southern autonomy. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, is ratified. In 1916, Canada’s original Parliament Buildings, in Ottawa, burns down. In 1924, the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, dies in Washington, D.C., at age 67. In 1930, the chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigns for health reasons. (He dies just over a month later.)

February 3, 1985: Youngstown Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro sees ominous signs if the Reagan administration eliminates general revenue sharing, which would cost the city more than $2 million and 100 jobs.

Five Northeast Ohio men, including a Youngstown real estate developer, are working on a plan to locate a new high-technology business manufacturing relatively low- cost computer-based medical laboratory equipment in the Valley.

Joe Vazzo, supervisor of the Youngstown office of the National Weather Service, retires after 34 years with the weather service, most of it in his hometown of Youngstown.

February 3, 1970: Mahoning County Sheriff Ray T. Davis tells county commissioners that they must find money to give deputies a cost of living raise.

A massive explosion of unknown origin levels the Shaker Heights Municipal Building and police station, injuring 15 people.

Joseph Olsavsky, 69, a bachelor and retired steel worker, dies in an early morning fire at his Wilkinson Avenue home.

February 3, 1960: Trumbull County deputies file charges in Juvenile Court against six Liberty youths and one from Youngstown after the group admits being involved in 11 home burglaries since August.

Motorists accused of drunken driving will be charged under state law instead of the city ordinance, says Youngstown Prosecutor Avetis G. Darvanan, meaning the drivers will face mandatory jail time if convicted.

The Youngstown Park Department will add 35 more seasonal laborers at an added cost of $55,000 a year to maintain city parks, playgrounds and other recreational areas properly, Supt. Edward Finamore tells City Council.

February 3, 1935: The 15th annual exhibition of the Mahoning Society of Painters opens at the Butler Art Institute. The artists drew heavily on local subjects, including recovery workers, Mill Creek Park scenes and even the “bug,” the illegal lottery, with one picture showing a Youngstowner dreaming of a number.

Judge Lynn Griffith of Warren denies an injunction sought by the state to restrain the Niles Ice Co. from selling coal at a price beneath that established by the recovery act.

Clergymen at the 16th annual convention of pastors of the Ohio Council of Churches, meeting in Columbus, prepare a resolution in opposition to state financial aid for parochial schools.

The state liquor control board refuses to restore the night club permit for the Hollyhock Gardens in Warren, saying there was sufficient evidence of gambling at the establishment and confusion over its true ownership.