Years Ago

Today is Friday, Oct. 21, the 294th day of 2011. There are 71 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1805: A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeats a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, is killed.

1879: Thomas Edison perfects a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

1944: During World War II, U.S. troops capture the German city of Aachen.

1971: President Richard Nixon nominates Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Both nominees are confirmed.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Sea World’s blimp is moored overnight at Youngstown Municipal Airport on its way to Cleveland for the 1986 International Trade Fair.

The United States is likely in 1986 to record its first trade deficit in high-technology products such as computers and scientific instruments, a study prepared for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress reports.

1971: Youngstown City Council transfers $29,419 to the Western Reserve Transit Authority, which will maintain bus service for the time being. The money had previously been allocated to the now defunct Mahoning Valley Regional Mass Transit Authority.

1961: Armed robbers take several thousand dollars in diamond rings and cash at Castle Jewelry, 139 E. Federal St. Two men and a woman tape the hands of Mrs. Herman Levy, wife of the owner, and a clerk, Rose Washington.

1936: William S. Lewis, assistant city law director, predicts there will be months of “complete chaos” in city operations if the charter repeal movement succeeds.

Halloween pranksters are roaming Youngs-town streets throwing tomatoes and marking car windows with soap. A 14-year-old boy was caught by a bus driver and passenger after he shattered a bus window with a tomato.