Years Ago

Today is Monday, Aug. 27, the 240th day of 2012. There are 126 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1859: Edwin L. Drake drills the first successful oil well in the U.S., at Titusville, Pa.

1883: The island volcano Krakatoa blows up; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claim some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

1939: The first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, goes on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.

1942: The Times of London publishs an editorial calling on the British government to promote the production of penicillin, the first mention of the antibiotic by a newspaper.

1962: The United States launches the Mariner 2 space probe, which flies past Venus in December.

1979: British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people are killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Ohio State University’s Chris Spielman led Ohio State with 205 tackles in 1986 and needs only 183 this season to surpass the school record.

The Youngstown Education Association is gearing up for a threatened teachers’s trike, and the Canfield Education Association rejects a contract offer from its board by an 80-10 vote.

1972: General Motors Corp. will bring its “Previews of Progress” show to the Canfield Fair, including demonstrations of how small jet engines may power the cars of tomorrow.

Abe Harshman, former city finance director and president of the Youngstown Board of Education, will receive the national B’nai B’rith Guardian of the Menorah Award at a banquet at the Hotel Ohio.

Doc Severinsen, conductor of television’s “Tonight Show” band, will headline the “All American Revue” on the grandstand at the Canfield Fair.

1962: John A. Saunders, president of General Fireproofing Co., warns that a payroll of $1 million a month will be lost from Youngstown’s economic bloodstream if the United Steelworkers of America calls a strike against GF.

Nationally known evanelist Dr. Torrey Johnson tells a capacity crowd at Stambaugh Auditorium that “Youngstown has turned a corner, and from here on the tide of revival and spiritual vitality will grow.”

The Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce endorses Mayor Harry Savasten’s proposed five-year improvement program.

1937: Campbell Mayor John J. Borak increases his margin of victory over former Mayor Joseph E. Julius to one of 30 votes, 1,752 to 1,722 in a recount.

Dr. Ryall, Youngstown health commissioner, says city hospitals are crowded with people having operations they couldn’t afford during the Depression and with youngsters having their tonsils clipped so as to be ready for the opening of school.

George E. Roudebush, superintendent of Youngstown schools, is appointed schools superintendent in Columbus.