Years Ago

Today is Saturday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2012. There are 324 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1812: Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signs a re-districting law favoring his Democratic-Republican Party — giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”

1858: A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, reports the first of 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in a grotto near Lourdes. (The Catholic Church later accepts that the visions are of the Virgin Mary.)

1861: President-elect Abraham Lincoln bids farewell to his adopted hometown of Springfield, Ill., as he heads to Washington for his inauguration.

1937: A six-week-old sit-down strike against General Motors ends, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.

1972: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine cancel plans to publish what turns out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

1975: Margaret Thatcher is elected leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party.

1990: South African black activist Nelson Mandela is freed after 27 years in captivity.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Mayor Patrick Ungaro and Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Don L. Hanni Jr. exchange verbal blows during a meeting of the West Side Citizens League over Ungaro’s contention that one of Youngstown’s three municipal judgeships should be eliminated.

Mahoning County experienced a 20 percent increase in child abuse during 1986 compared to the previous year, a CSB supervisor tells the Mahoning County Children Services Board.

1972: Work resumes at the Oldberg Manufacturing Co. as 300 workers return to their jobs, ending a three-day wildcat strike over scheduling and payment for machine downtime.

Youngstown district steel mill operations will surge nearly 10 percent to 62 percent following the resumption of steelmaking at U.S. Steel Corp.’s Ohio Works.

Hourly employees at General Motors Corp.’s Packard Electric Division and Lordstown plant are told there will be no 1986 profit-sharing disbursements. About 23,000 employees are affected.

1962: A lone gunman exchanges gunfire with the proprietors of U-Save Supermarket, 1132 Rigby St., and flees with about $200. One store partner shoots at a customer’s car that he mistook for the getaway auto.

The Mahoning County Democratic Executive Committee endorses U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan for a 14th term.

A proposed plan for treating county sewage in Youngstown’s disposal plant may provide the last hope for reaching a satisfactory cooperative agreement before work begins on the multimillion dollar facility.

1937: A.J. Wardle, president of McKay Machine Co., announces a $300,000 construction program that will facilitate the addition of about 60 men to the payroll.

A nine-day strike of about 100 employees of the Moyer Manufacturing Co. ends when members of the United Garment Workers union agree to return to work.

U.S. Steel Corp. reports January steel shipments of 1,149,918 tons, the highest for the month since 1929.