Years Ago

Today is Friday, Aug. 31, the 244th day of 2012. There are 122 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1886: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.3 devastates Charleston, S.C., killing at least 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act prohibiting the export of U.S. arms to belligerents.

1954: Hurricane Carol hits the northeastern Atlantic states; Connecticut, Rhode Island and part of Massachusetts bear the brunt of the storm, which results in nearly 70 deaths.

1962: Caribbean nations of Trinidad and Tobago become independent of British colonial rule.

1972: At the Munich Summer Olympics, American swimmer Mark Spitz wins his fourth and fifth gold medals, in the 100-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay; Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut wins gold medals in floor exercise and the balance beam.

1980: Poland’s Solidarity labor movement is born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ends a 17-day-old strike.

1986: The Soviet passenger ship Admiral Nakhimov collides with a merchant vessel in the Black Sea, causing both to sink; up to 448 people reportedly died.

1987: The Michael Jackson album “Bad” is released by Epic Records.

1992: White separatist Randy Weaver surrenders to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that had claimed the lives of Weaver’s wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Youngstown Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro is considering the introduction of legislation that would require a “cooling off” period before a firearm may be purchased in the city.

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan, D-53rd, co-sponsors a bill with his father, Robert E. Hagan, D-51st, that would require a company that moves operations or closes to pay severance to workers with at least three years’ service.

David Blaney of Hartford and Glenn Fitzcharles of Pottstown, Pa., win a sprint car doubleheader at Sharon Speedway.

1972: The 126th annual Canfield Fair opens under sunny skies with a tractor pull as the first event in the grand stands.

Twenty-five deputies of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s office harvest a 20-acre crop of marijuana from farm land at Duck Creek and Ellsworth roads in Ellsworth Township. Street value of the crop was estimated at $1 million to $2 million.

The Mahoning County Children Services Board is trying to learn the identity of a four- or five-day-old girl left on a cart at the maternity entrance of North Side Hospital.

1962: Ralph Roberts, 2, dies of lead poisoning in St. Elizabeth Hospital. A coroner’s report said the boy had a habit of chewing on painted objects.

Fire sweeps through the Moore & Moore lumber Co. at 100 E. Florida Ave., destroying a million board-feet of lumber. The loss is estimated at $250,000.

1937: Youngstown vice squad detectives seize three illegal marble boards in two South Side beer parlors. Meanwhile, the law department is studying Mayor Lionel Evans’ proposal to ban all pin games.

William G. Craig, a 47-year-old inspector at the Sharon Steel Corp., falls dead at the home of a neighbor on Logan Ave., Sharon, from excitement after listening to a radio broadcast of the 15-round heavyweight championship fight between Joe Louis and Tommy Farr.