Years Ago

Today is Thursday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2011. There are 331 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1811: American newspaper editor Horace Greeley is born in Amherst, N.H.

1913: The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, is ratified.

1924: The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, dies in Washington, D.C., at age 67.

1930: The chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigns for health reasons. (He dies just over a month later.)

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.

1959: Rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson die in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

1966: The Soviet probe Luna 9 becomes the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: LTV Corp. announces that it is closing its Warren Works print shop, which will eliminate 22 jobs.

The Youngstown State University Alumni Association presents its annual Basketball Night, featuring a game between the Red and White alumni teams. Dean of the Red team will be Walt Brian, 1947-52; dean of the White team, Sal Guap-pone, 1947-50.

1971: Michael Harasym, 56, operator of an Andrews Avenue auto repair shop, dies after accidentally cutting his leg with a power saw while cutting firewood at his shop.

Mr. and Mrs. Herman Clark almost made it to the delivery room at St. Elizabeth Hospital, but their son, Herman, was born in the car in the parking lot, with nurses summoned from the hospital in attendance.

1961: Seven East Side children, ranging in age from 16 to 3, scramble to safety after fire breaks out at their Hine Street home while both parents were at work.

Appearing before City Council, Police Chief Frank W. Watters defends his transfer of extra patrolmen to night duty, saying it was done for efficiency’s sake, not as a message to other officers about a perceived laxity.

1936: Neighbors carry three tots to safety as flames drive the Rev. and Mrs. Walter Wilber and their five children from their home at 461 Chicago Ave.

Police Chief Carl Olson vows to continue raids on bookmakers and “bug” operators in the city after transferring four patrolmen to the vice detail.