years ago

Today is Monday, April 16, the 107th day of 2012. There are 259 days left in the year.

Associated Press

On this date in:

1789: President-elect George Washington leaves Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.

1862: During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. The Confederacy conscripts all white men between the ages of 18 to 35.

1912: American aviator Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to France in 59 minutes, an accomplishment overshadowed by the Titanic disaster the day before.

1947: The French ship Grandcamp blows up at the harbor in Texas City, Texas; another ship, the High Flyer, explodes the following day (the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people).

1962: New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel excommunicates three local Roman Catholics for fighting racial integration of parochial schools.

Vindicator files

1987: Mahoning and Shenango police break up a theft ring, arresting four men and seizing $100,000 worth of stolen guns and other loot.

About 15 high school students attend the Canfield Board of Education meeting to urge the rehiring of a popular mathematics teacher, James Hook. No reason for the nonrenewal of his teaching contract was given.

Damage is estimated at $500,000 in a fire that gutted two buildings at the Burnett Pools Inc. on Elm Road in Bazetta Township.

1972 John Vavrinak, a Erie Lackawanna watchman jumps into the surging waters of Crab Creek to save Steve Buckley, who fell into the water while skipping stones with playmates. Vavrinak was alerted by cries for help from the other boys.

The Ohio Education Association, which represents professors at Youngstown State University, says the university has two budgets, one of which is a matter of public record and the other, an “internal operating budget,” that is treated as secret.

1962: Three masked bandits hide in the back room of the Mural Room restaurant a block from the Youngstown police station and then confront a cashier, Elia Malley, and assistant manager, Thomas J. McQuade. The robbers bind the employees and escape with $2,000.

Joanne Hruska, a 14-year-old eighth grader at St. Matthias School, wins the Diocesan Spelling Bee, besting 73 other school champions at Cardinal Mooney High School.

1937: Sam Maile, 11, of 211 Dearborn St., Girard, is on the mend after his heart stopped for an estimated five minutes before the doctor who had been treating him for scarlet fever and pneumonia gave him a shot of adrenaline.

William H. Mead, executive secretary of Youngstwon’s Central YMCA, resigns to become general secretary of the Terre Haute, Ind., “Y. “