Years Ago

Today is Friday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2012. There are 353 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1864: Composer Stephen Foster dies impoverished in a New York hospital at age 37. (In his pocket: a note which reads, “Dear friends and gentle hearts.”)

1962: Comedian Ernie Kovacs dies in a car crash in west Los Angeles 10 days before his 43rd birthday.

1966: Robert C. Weaver is named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson; Weaver becomes the first black Cabinet member.

1982: An Air Florida 737 crashes into Washington, D.C.’s, 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River after taking off during a snowstorm, killing a total of 78 people; four passengers and a flight attendant survive.

1987: West German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, a suspect in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner. (Although convicted and sentenced to life, Hamadi is paroled by Germany in December 2005; he is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list.)

1990: L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia becomes the nation’s first elected black governor as he takes the oath of office in Richmond.

2001: An earthquake estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey at magnitude 7.7 strikes El Salvador; more than 840 people are killed.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. takes over the pension plans for more than 100,000 active and retired employees of LTV Steel Corp., which will preserve the pensions for most, but will mean the loss of hundreds of dollars in monthly benefits for those who took early retirement.

Liberty teachers end a six-day strike after reaching agreement on a three-year contract that will increase the base salary for a teacher from $14,115 to $17,000 in three increments.

1972: A noon reading of 62 degrees at Youngstown Municipal Airport breaks the 1950 record for the high on this date.

California Gov. Ronald Reagan sends the legislature a record $7.6 billion budget for1972, an increase of $744 million over the previous year.

The Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce gives the city a list of recommendations for improving conditions at the city jail, including a suggested increase from $11,000 to $20,000 for food on which the city now spends less than $1 per day per prisoner.

1962: Three unmasked, long-haired youths, described as “typical movie juvenile delinquents” rob Shultz & Son Marine Supply at 1596 Boardman-Poland Road of $1,800 shortly before closing time.

A car crashes into the Midway Tavern on Route 30 in Hanoverton killing one customer, Earl McIntosh, 44, and injuring four others.

Gov. Michael DiSalle, a Democrat, announces that he has changed his mind and will seek a second term.

Youngstown police and juvenile authorities are concerned that shoplifting is becoming a fad among teenage girls, with more than 15 of them arrested in recent weeks.

1937: Mahoning County commissioners reappoint the entire staff of 65 in the county relief organization, ending rumors that numerous replacements were to be made for political reasons.

Edgar Samuels, Youngstown jeweler, is installed as noble grand of the Youngstown International Organization of Odd Fellows, Lodge 403.