Years Ago

Today is Monday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2011. There are 306 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1844: A 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton explodes as the ship is sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.

1849: The California gold rush begins in earnest as regular steamship service starts bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.

1911: President William Howard Taft nominates William H. Lewis to be the first black Assistant Attorney General of the United States. (Lewis takes office in March 1911 and serves until April 1913.)

1960: A day after defeating the Soviets at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., the United States wins its first Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia’s team, 9-4.

VINDICAT0R FILES

1986: Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro says the city will accept only a federal grant, not a loan, to repair the Lake Milton Dam.

Boardman Spartans hold off South High, 51-50, in the drama-filled Class AAA Sectional Tournament at the Struthers Field House. Brad Barringer put in a foul shot that turned out to be the game winner.

1971: Bond is set at $50,000 for three men arrested in Cleveland by Secret Service agents while selling $500,000 in counterfeit bills that agents say were printed at a Market Street print shop in Youngstown.

About 250 black and Puerto Rican seniors from North, East, Rayen and South high schools attend an all-day workshop at Youngstown State University, preparatory to entering the university.

1961: Mahoning County commissioners refuse to pay a $6,720 bill for uniforms for 28 deputy sheriffs that were ordered by Sheriff Ray T. Davis.

Four men, two of them widely known Youngstown hoodlums, are arrested by Trumbull County deputies as suspects in the theft of $10,000 in jewelry and watches from a Brookfield discount store.

1936: Taxicabs may legally operate in Youngstown without liability insurance provided warning notices are displayed, city Law Director Vern B. Thomas rules.

Henry Harr, 12, becomes suspicious when he sees a man leaving the home of the Rev. John F. Maloney, retired pastor of St. Edward’s Church, and follows him until he sees a police cruiser. The cruiser was responding to a report of a burglary at Father Maloney’s home and police arrest the suspect young Harr followed.