Years Ago

Today is Saturday, March 19, the 78th day of 2011. There are 287 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1918: Congress approved Daylight-Saving Time.

1911: The first International Women’s Day, the inspiration of German socialist Clara Zetkin, is observed with rallies and parades in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland.

1920: The Senate rejects, for a second time, the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 49 in favor, 35 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval.

1931: Nevada Gov. Fred B. Balzar signs a measure legalizing casino gambling.

1941: Jimmy Dorsey and Orchestra records “Green Eyes” and “Maria Elena” for Decca Records.

1945: During World War II, 724 people are killed when a Japanese dive bomber attacks the carrier USS Franklin off Japan; the ship, however, is saved.

Adolf Hitler issues his so-called “Nero Decree,” ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.

1951: Herman Wouk’s World War II novel “The Caine Mutiny” is first published.

1979: The U.S. House of Representatives begins televising its day-to-day business.

1981: During a pre-flight test of the space shuttle Columbia, two Rockwell International employees are killed after entering a chamber filled only with nitrogen (three other workers survive).

2003: President George W. Bush orders the start of war against Iraq.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Supt. James Hall tells the Lordstown Board of Education that the district is facing a projected deficit of $75,000 by year’s end unless a 5.9 mill emergency levy is approved.

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., endorses Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown for the 53rd District state representative seat held by veteran legislator Thomas P. Gilmartin.

After 20 years, a small group of teachers in the Youngstown City School District’s Home-School Visitation Program say their attempt to help families improve their economic condition is becoming a losing battle against drugs, alcohol, child abuse and teenage pregnancy.

1971: The FBI arrests two men and two women in East Liverpool and four in Canton in a crackdown on numbers lottery operations in the two communities.

The Red Cross Bloodmobile collects 233 pints of blood during a drawing cosponsored by the Niles Classroom Teachers Association and Knights of Columbus Council 12681, just six pints short of the city’s record for a bloodmobile visit.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics holds a conference at the Voyager Motor Inn downtown for more than 100 Youngstown public school math teachers.

Playing at the Southern Park Cinema, “Love Story,” nominated for seven academy awards; at the Uptown, “Patton,” nominated for 10 academy awards.

1961: An 8-year-old Petersburg boy, Dale Allan Leipply, tumbles into an open feed hopper while playing in his grandfather’s barn of Wellsville Road, Newton Falls, and suffocates.

Europe’s rapidly growing steel industry which has well-financed research, modern plants and low wages, is getting the jump on American steel companies and will capture more American orders unless the domestic industry reacts, says Dr. Karl L. Fetters, vice president of research at Youngstown Sheet& Tube Co.

Stroh’s of Detroit, one of the nation’s top bowling teams, will appear at Crest Lanes in Warren and Gran Lanes in Youngstown.

The 34-voice Augustana Seminary Chorus of Rock Island, Ill., will present a concert of sacred music at Bethel Lutheran Church.

1936: Devastating flood waters, the worst since 1913, sweep over a wide area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Wellsville is under water and 700 families have had to flee their homes. The Vindicator will print editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has been flooded out of its downtown plant.

“Fried foods, if cooked correctly, are not injurious to the health,” Mrs. Bertha M. Harris tells more than 200 Youngstown women who braved a snow storm o attend the second session of The Vindicator Electrical Cooking School at the State Theater.