Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, May 11, the 131st day of 2011. There are 234 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1811: Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker are born in Siam (now Thailand), giving rise to the term “Siamese twins.”

1911: Actor-comedian Phil Silvers is born in New York City.

1946: The first CARE packages arrive in Europe, at Le Havre, France.

1950: President Harry S. Truman formally dedicates the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state.

1960: Israeli agents capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1973: Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the “Pentagon Papers” case are dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cites government misconduct.

1981: Legendary reggae artist Bob Marley dies in a Miami hospital at age 36.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” opens in London.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: The Youngstown Civil Service Commission threatens to stop certifying the payroll of some 500 noncertificated Youngstown school employees unless the board provides information on employees hired at entry level positions without taking civil service exams.

Some residents of Spring Hill, Tenn., selected as the site of General Motors new Saturn plant, are leaving, concerned than an “invasion of Yankees” is a threat to their Southern lifestyle.

1971: Ninety-six cases with 429 people are added to Mahoning County’s welfare rolls during April, giving the welfare department a net total of 7,279 cases with $15,783 recipients.

The job outlook for students graduating from colleges and universities in 1971 is grim, according to a U.S. Labor Department survey in six Midwestern states.

1961: Common Pleas Judge David G. Jenkins issues a temporary restraining order closing the Metropolitan Club at 19 Fifth Ave., a liquor cheat spot.

Youngstown City Council asks the Park and Recreation Commission to seek voter approval of a one-mill operating levy to relieve general operating funds and avert a possible city deficit.

Municipal Judge Martin P. Joyce fines two men a maximum of $500 and sentences them to six months in county jail after they pleaded guilty to obtaining unemployment benefits illegally.

1936: A record heat wave for May drives the temperature in Youngstown to 94 degrees attracting thousands to area highways and parks.

Three bandits armed with sawed-off shotguns and a revolver rob the Southern Hills Country Club on Tippecanoe Road of $1,000 and escape in an automobile.

Mrs. Virgil Leonhart, a 25-year-old bride of three months, her 15-year-old sister and her father-in-law, are injured and narrowly escape death after being trapped in their blazing home at 133 Westminster Ave., Wickliffe. Mrs. Leonhart, Nadine Leonhart and Cecil Leonhart are treated for burns.