Years Ago

Today is Tuesday, July 31, the 213th day of 2012. There are 153 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1777: The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, is made a major-general in the American Continental Army.

1942: Oxfam International has its beginnings as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief is founded in England.

1972: Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdraws from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.

1991: President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: The Warren Area Board of Realtors opposes a proposed Trumbull County housing code that could require properties to meet certain requirements before a sale.

A group of Smith Township residents oppose annexation of 32 acres of the township to the city of Alliance at a public hearing held by Mahoning County commissioners.

The lack of a winner for the five consecutive weeks causes the Ohio Lotto jackpot to skyrocket to $25 million.

1972: The Ohio Welfare Department approves a budget of $89,381 for Youngstown’s new Office of Consumer Affairs.

Frank Nemec, chairman of Lykes-Youngstown Corp. and its subsidiary, Youngstown Sheet & Tube. Co., tells Forbes magazine that “a heavy dose of protectionism and a couple of more devaluations of the dollar” are needed if the U.S. steel industry is going to rebound by 1975.

1962: Blue Cross hospitalization rates in Mahoning , Trumbull and Columbiana counties will increase sharply, going from 35 cents to $1.60 per month for single coverage and from 75 cents to $3.05 for family coverage.

The California Cuties, billed as the World’s Funniest Nine-Man Softball team, will perform in a game to benefit the United Veterans Council’s youth activities Aug. 9 in Youngstown. The players, all dressed as women, will face Menaldi Jeweler’s All-Stars.

A.S. Glossbrenner, president of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., says the ailing steel industry, principal employer in the Youngstown region, hit bottom in July and is now rebounding.

1937: Republic Steel Corp. announces improvements costing up to $1 million to Youngstown plants, including rebuilding the No. 3 blast furnace at Haselton.

The three Kover sisters of Cortland are married in a quiet ceremony in the parsonage of the Methodist Church in Chardon. Irene is married to Alfred Crain of Warren, Tillie is married to Edward McDivitt of Windham and Ida is married to Robert Kale of Warren.