Years ago

June 20, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Sunday, June 20, the 171st day of 2010. There are 194 days left in the year. This is Father’s Day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1837: Queen Victoria accedes to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.

1863: West Virginia becomes the 35th state.

1910: Entertainer Fanny Brice makes her official debut with The Ziegfeld Follies.

1893: A jury in New Bedford, Mass., finds Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

1943: Race-related rioting erupts in Detroit; federal troops are sent in two days later to quell the violence that results in more than 30 deaths.

1947: Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is shot dead at the Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, apparently at the order of mob associates.

1960: Floyd Patterson regains his world heavyweight title as he knocks out Ingemar Johansson during their rematch at New York’s Polo Grounds.

1967: Boxer Muhammad Ali is convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. (Ali’s conviction is ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court).

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Work is finishing up on a new facade on the Rite Aid Pharmacy building that is scheduled to open June 28 downtown. The building formerly housed Woolworth’s.

A woman opens fire at the Newport Valu King at 3730 Market St. killing Robert Billock, 15, and wounding two other people during what police described as a domestic dispute.

1970: Hundreds of firemen battle a fire that engulfed the Witco Chemical Co. in Franklin, Pa., Two workers and a firemen are missing and feared dead.

The Rt. Rev. John Harris Burt, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, confirms 12 members of the confirmation class at St. Rocco’s Episcopal Church, 230 Trumbull Ave.

Advertisement: Purchase a room air conditioner at Cooks Discount Department Store on Mahoning Avenue and receive a standard size children’s red wagon, a $19.99 value, free.

1960: Youngstown Law Director S.S. Feckett says police should use the city’s old “known burglar” ordinance to crack down on organized crime in the city. The ordinance provides for a $50 fine and 30 days in jail for any “known burglar or thief found within the city limits.”

The Rev. William Dunn celebrates one of the last masses at St. Ann Church on W. Federal Street, which is being lost to construction of Youngstown arterial highway system. The long-time chaplain to Youngstown policemen is presented with an engraved billy club.

Advertisement: State Chevrolet Red Cane sale days: new Impala convertibles at $2,495; Impala hardtops at $2,300.

1935: Gov. Davey rebukes George W. Rightmire, president of Ohio State University, who complained about cuts in the school’s budget. Davey says it costs 31 percent more for education at OSU than at the other four state colleges.

The Ohio Edison Co. sponsors a luncheon at its downtown Youngstown auditorium for area businessmen to demonstrate the value of air conditioning. During a skit, three Ohio Edison employees (H.G. Lingeman, Leo Brown and Byron Christman) portraying high temperatures, humidity and dirt and dust, are banished from an air conditioned restaurant .

Between 25,000 and 30,000 children turn out at Idora Park for The Vindicator’s Kiddies’ Day. The first group of about 50 children from Struthers arrived at the park gate at 2 a.m. for their free tickets.