Years Ago

Today is Friday, March 18, the 77th day of 2011. There are 288 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1861: Sam Houston steps down as governor of Texas after refusing to accept the state’s decision to secede from the Union.

1910: The first filmed adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein,” produced by Thomas Edison’s New York movie studio, is released.

1911: Irving Berlin’s first major hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” is first published by Ted Snyder & Co. of New York.

1931: Schick Inc. markets the first electric razor.

1940: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass, where the Italian dictator agrees to join Germany’s war against France and Britain.

1959: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Hawaii statehood bill. (Hawaii becomes a state on Aug. 21, 1959.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Concerned by consistent rumors that the downtown Strouss-Kaufmann’s store is going to be closed, Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro asks for a meeting with top Kaufmann’s officials to discuss the store’s future.

A federal arbitrator rules in favor of 11 Salem police officers, giving them 3.7 percent pay raises retroactive to Jan. 1, which will mean $650 for each officer during the year.

1971: Three well-dressed men posing as federal agents enter the Canfield Township home of Dr. John M. Russell, handcuff Mrs. Russell and flee with $5,000 in valuables after searching the house for narcotics.

Mayor Jack C. Hunter tells the Youngstown Board of Health that the cash-strapped city cannot afford to take over the Board of Education’s health program without receiving money from the board to cover costs.

1961: Three armed robbers force their way into the home of former Mahoning County Sheriff Ralph Langley, bind Mrs. Langley with adhesive tape and ransack the couple’s E. Lucius Avenue home They escape with a wristwatch and $500 in cash.

Youngstown City Engineer J. Phillip Richley envisions completion of the city’s $75 million arterial highway program by as early as 1967.

1936: Eighteen Youngs–town barbers are arrested on warrants sworn to by state inspectors from Columbus. Most are charged with failure to observer proper sanitation conditions based on information gathered by inspectors who had made a surprise visit to the city.