Years Ago

Today is Friday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2011. There are 92 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1777: The Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moves to York, Pa.

1846: Boston dentist William Morton uses ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracts an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

1938: After co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain says, “I believe it is peace for our time.”

1955: Actor James Dean, 24, is killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.

1962: Black student James Meredith is escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolls for classes the next day.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Youngstown Hospital Association officials announce the layoff of 31 licensed practical nurses because it no longer has a need for their services in the wake of a strike against the hospitals.

The U.S. House passes a bill aimed at LTV Corp. that would prohibit companies under bankruptcy court protection from cancelling health and life insurance for retirees covered by labor contracts.

A delegation of 30 downtown merchants delivers petitions to the Mahoning County commissioners opposing the move of welfare offices from a downtown location to the McGuffey Mall.

1971: The Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. announces plans to modernize its Campbell Works continuous pipe mill at a cost of $9 million.

Spokesmen for the steel industry and the Ohio Edison Co. tell the Ohio Water Pollution Control Board that upgrading the Mahoning River to an “Aquatic Life A” stream could cost more than $127 million in capital improvements and about $3 million a year.

Assistant City Law Director Irwin Stambor will represent Youngstown among a group of Ohio’s seven largest cities fighting a proposed $83 million, five-year rate hike by Ohio Bell Telephone Co.

1961: Sharon’s Republican-controlled city council refuses to elevate Councilman Jack E. Abernathy from acting mayor to mayor. Mayor Frank L. Snyder resigned after being transferred to Muncie, Ind., by Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Four Youngstown fire companies battle a blaze at Commercial Shearing and Stamping Co. on Logan Avenue. There’s no estimate of damage.

Irwin Stunkard, superintendent of Lawrence County schools, outlines the advantages of merging the Taylor Township and New Castle school districts during a public meeting.

1936: The state extends the deadline for obtaining a driver’s license by 30 days, but the Youngstown Automobile Club will remain open nightly to meet demand, says W.E. Loller, auto club secretary.

The Hollyhock Club, an elaborately furnished restaurant, bar and dining room on Pine SE in Warren, is heavily damaged by an arson fire before it was able to reopen following extensive remodeling. Damage is estimated at $35,000.

The Rev. Hubert C. Anderson, a 60-year-old backwoods preacher in Jonesville, Va., dies after allowing himself to be bit by a copperhead and a rattlesnake as a demonstration of his faith.