Years Ago

September 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Thursday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2010. There are 106 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1810: Mexicans are inspired to begin their ultimately successful revolt against Spanish rule by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. (Mexico’s independence is finally achieved in 1821.)

1908: General Motors is founded in Flint, Mich., by William C. Durant.

1910: Bessica Medlar Raiche of Mineola, N.Y., makes the first accredited solo airplane flight by a woman in the United States.

1940: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Training and Service Act, which sets up the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history.

1982: The massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children by Israeli-allied Lebanese militiamen begins in west Beirut’s Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps.

1988: Hurricane Gilbert slams into the Mexican coast.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: The 6th U.S. Court of Appeals issues a compromise ruling in a dispute between Chief Judge Frank J. Battisti and judges of the Northern District of Ohio over who determines court policies, Battisti or a majority of the judges. The judges can establish rules, but Battisti is responsible for administering them.

Chevrolet’s Japanese-made Sprint ER, a mini-compact, receives a fuel-economy rating of 55 mpg, making it the most gas-efficient car for sale in the United States.

1970: Stephen Stefanof, 49, of Youngstown is killed near Unity when struck by lightning while climbing from a road roller during repaving of Route 14 just north of Route 170 in Columbiana County.

Members of USW Local 1617 continue their three-day strike against General Fireproofing Co. over the suspension of a worker.

1960: Vice Admiral Roy A. Gano presides at a ceremony adding the Military Sea Transport Service unit to the Youngstown Naval Reserve Training Center on E. LaClede Avenue.

Under the Post Office’s newly instituted “Metro Plan,” a Youngstown businessman can post a letter anywhere in the area one day and expect it to reach any destination within a 150-mile radius by the next morning, Postmaster Chester M. Bailey says.

1935: Gov. Martin L. Davey attends the Trumbull-Mahoning Sportsmen’s Fourth Annual Field Meet at Hubbard.

Tony Gomas, 63, of Youngstown is dead on arrival at St. Elizabeth Hospital of a head injury believed to have been caused when he was struck on the head with a beer bottle after leaving a Brier Hill tavern with three men who are being sought.