Years Ago

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

Today is Sunday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2010. There are 327 days left in the year. On this date in 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart go on the first untethered space walk, which lasts nearly six hours.

In 1857, a French court acquits author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel “Madame Bovary.” In 1904, a fire begins in Baltimore that rages for about 30 hours and destroys more than 1,500 buildings. In 1943, the government announces the start of shoe rationing, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person for the remainder of the year. In 1948, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Army chief of staff; he is succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley. In 1971, women in Switzerland gain the right to vote through a national referendum, 12 years after a previous attempt failed. In 1983, Elizabeth H. Dole is sworn in as the first female secretary of transportation by the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

February 7, 1985: President Reagan’s appeal for tax simplification during his State of the Union message gets a cool reception from a Congress that is preoccupied with deficit reduction.

The first group of 30 families at the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Kimmel Brook Homes move sinto completely renovated apartments, the first phase of a $3.3 million project.

Poland Township trustees honor state Rep. Joseph J. Vukovich III for his efforts in securing passage of a House bill that permits township trustees to regulate agricultural land use in any district not zoned for agricultural use.

February 7, 1970: Mahoning County’s Junior Miss, Marilyn Kuhar, a senior at Ursuline High School, wins the first night talent award at the Ohio Junior Miss Pageant in Middletown for her interpretive dance to a portion of Gibran’s “The Prophet.”

Youngstown State University’s pass-receiving ace, Dave DelSignore, signs with the San Francisco 49ers, where he is expected to play in the defensive backfield.

February 7, 1960: Harold T. Thomas of Auckland, New Zealand, president of Rotary International, arrives in Youngstown for a three-day stay during a worldwide tour.

Police in Kent confront four men who escaped from the Trumbull County jail in Joe and Ann’s restaurant on Water Street about noon. Three are taken into custody immediately and one who managed to flee is captured about six hours later.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says property owners will receive fair market value as the corps buys land for the Shenango River Dam. Most of the land is farmland. Some Erie Railroad tracks will have to be relocated.

February 7, 1935: L.B. McKelvey, president of the G.M. McKelvey Co., says he is “100 percent for President Roosevelt since he has been in office.” Testifying during a deposition hearing in the suit filed by Locke Miller challenging the re-election of Congressman John Cooper, McKelvey says, “I realize he (Roosevelt) has made some mistakes, but I still am for him in everything he does.” Miller suggested that Youngstown newspapers had been distorting McKelvey’s views, which he denied.

The engagement of the star-studded motion picture, “David Copperfield,” at the Warner Theater in Youngstown drew close to 50,000 people to the theater during a two-week, 65-showing run. The photoplay stars Maureen O’Sullivan, Lionel Barrymoore, and W.C. Fields among 65 players.