Years Ago

Today is Sunday, July 3, the 184th day of 2011. There are 181 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1775: Gen. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.

1863: The three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat.

1898: The U.S. Navy defeats a Spanish fleet outside Santiago Bay in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

1944: During World War II, Soviet forces recapture Minsk.

1962: Algeria gains independence after 132 years of French rule.

1971: Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.

1986: President Ronald Reagan presides over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that sees the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

Singer-actor Rudy Vallee, 84, dies at his North Hollywood home.

1988: The USS Vincennes shoots down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Two Youngstown State University graduate students in history will spend the summer recording oral histories of several prominent Youngstowners including Paul Wigton, president of LTV; Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., chairman of the board of the DeBartolo Corp.; George Reiss, business editor of The Vindicator and Margaret Cushwa, board member of Commercial Shearing Corp.

The Ungaro administration will move forward with quota systems for hiring in the police and fire departments following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding quotas in the Cleveland Fire Department.

Niles city officials are seeking funds from the Celeste administration to breach the Mosquito Creek dam north of where the creek crosses under Robbins Avenue.

1971: The quiet of peaceful Poland Village is shattered when a 21-year-old gardener goes on a shooting spree in a barbershop, killing barber Frank Listorti, 51, and an 11-year-old customer, Bobby Kramer, and wounding his 13-year-old brother, Bobby. Police are holding Robert Williams, who was arrested at his home.

More than 6,500 construction workers in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties will return to work following ratification of a new two-year-contract, ending a one-month strike.

Six Mahoning County high school students are members of the 140-voice Ohio State Fair Youth Choir that leaves for a 21-day good will tour of Europe. They are Douglas O. Drake, Nicholas G. Kaleel, George G. Hunter, Stephanie Gazdik, Renee George and Billie Jean Lint.

With weekend activities yet to come, more than 15,000 Niles area residents have attended the annual Fourth of July celebration in Waddell Park.

1961: Vandals go on a rampage in Larry’s Sideway Inn in Struthers and literally destroy the place.

Various water tragedies over the weekend leading up to July Fourth claim six lives in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.

Mrs. Armand Lamoureux, prominent Sharon artist, is painting a mural in the lobby of the McDowell National Bank in Sharon depicting the history of coins.

A 25-year-old Breaden Street man is fined $50 and given a suspended 10-day jail sentence by Youngstown Municipal Judge Martin Joyce after being arrested with 32 lottery slips and a blank pistol in his possession.

1936: A record 1.75-inch rainfall hits the Youngstown district, accompanied by a spectacular display of lightning. The storm hits during the opening performance of the Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus at Belmont Avenue and Gypsy Lane, drenching thousands of circus goers.

Steel output in the Youngstown district will resume after the holiday at 77 percent of capacity.

Esther Hamilton writes her first column for The Vindicator after the merger of the Vindicator and the Youngstown Telegram.

Poland Mayor Osborne Mitchell says that while there is considerable feeling against the sale and use of fireworks, the village has no ordinance to restrict the sale or use.