Years Ago

Today is Tuesday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2011. There are 242 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1802: Washington, D.C., is incorporated as a city.

1911: Wisconsin Gov. Francis E. McGovern signs the first U.S. workers’ compensation law to withstand constitutional scrutiny. (Previous attempts in Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana and New York were struck down.)

1948: The Supreme Court rules that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups are legally unenforceable.

1971: The National Public Radio program “All Things Considered” makes its debut.

1979: Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher is chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister as the Tories oust the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.

1991: Author Jerzy Kosinski is found dead in his New York City apartment; he was 57.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: A Vindicator-YSU poll shows Commissioner Thomas Carney is poised to win renomination in the Democratic primary by a 2-1 margin over his closest challenger in a three-man race.

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the San Diego Padres and pitcher Dave Dravecky with a 4-run seventh inning.

1971: More than 60,000 voters are expected to go to the polls in Mahoning County primary elections, nearly half of those in Youngstown.

A monument marking the grave of Sandra Scheuer is unveiled at Cornersburg Cemetery, just short of one year after she became one of four students shot to death on the campus of Kent State University by Ohio National Guardsmen.

1961: Youngstown Mayor Frank R. Franko and the entire slate of party-endorsed City Council candidates win nomination in the primary election. Franko, who defeated Atty. Joseph O’Neil, 21,693 to 17,295, will face Republican Harry N. Savasten in November.

City police have failed to tie Jasper J. “Fats” Aiello with the operation of a downtown liquor cheat spot raided by state agents and are now seeking James Petrella, who was arrested in the raid, to try to find our who the real operators of the club are.

1936: Betty Zwingler, a 13-year-old student at New Middletown School and a former runner-up, wins The Vindicator Spelling Bee Championship and a trip to Washington, D.C., for the national contest.

Youngstown’s East High ranks fourth among the 32 high schools in the district-state scholarship contest held at Kent State University in which 1,587 students took examinations.

Harry Weiss, arrested in Youngstown and subsequently indicted in connection with the kidnapping of Paul H. Wendel in New Jersey, is held in the Brooklyn, N.Y., jail, handcuffed after attempting to commit suicide.