Years Ago

Today is Friday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2011. There are 134 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1909: The first automobile races are run at the just-opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1934: A plebiscite in Germany approves the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

1951: The owner of the St. Louis Browns, Bill Veeck, sends in Eddie Gaedel, a 3-foot-7 midget, to pinch-hit in a game against Detroit. (In his only major league at-bat, Gaedel walks on four pitches and is replaced at first base by a pinch-runner.)

1991: Soviet hard-liners make the stunning announcement that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapses two days later.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Work is completed on a $123,000 contract to remove asbestos from Hickory High School.

Covelli Enterprises begins a multimillion-dollar renovation for a new headquarters building at North Road and East Market Street and announces plans for an adjacent “new concept” McDonalds restaurant.

1971: John Jovich, president of the Mahoning Valley Teen Democrats Council, will work with Youngstown State University and area high schools to register first-time 18-year-old voters.

District 13 Commissioner Tony Vivo and Youngstown Slow Pitch League Director Tom Holden are overseeing the state slow pitch tournament in Youngstown.

1961: Joseph P. Gorman, 51, a longtime Democratic Party worker and current chief deputy clerk of Municipal Court, is appointed temporary county treasurer, succeeding John A. Bannon.

Mayor Frank R. Franko asks that Common Pleas Judge Frank J. Battisti step aside in hearing the appeal of Atty. Paul J. Fleming’s dismissal from the Civil Service Commission by Franko. Battisti had refused to postpone a hearing so that Franko could attend a municipal convention.

1936: About 100 young women workers at the Triangle Raincoat Co. walk off the job at the E. Federal Street plant; 150 remain on the job and company officials say work is proceeding as normal.

The Youngstown Junior Chamber of Commerce is organizing a “get out the vote” drive which will be nonpartisan, with a Republican and a Democrat serving in every precinct.