Years Ago

Today is Thursday, March 8, the 68th day of 2012. There are 298 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1702: England’s Queen Anne accedes to the throne upon the death of King William III.

1782: The Gnadenhutten massacre takes place as more than 90 Indians are slain by militiamen in Ohio in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.

1854: U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry makes his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concludes a treaty with the Japanese.

1862: During the Civil War, the ironclad CSS Virginia rams and sinks the USS Cumberland and heavily damages the USS Congress, both frigates, off Newport News, Va.

1874: The 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, dies in Buffalo, N.Y., at age 74.

1917: Russia’s “February Revolution” (so called because of the Old Style calendar used by Russians at the time) begins with rioting and strikes in Petrograd.

The U.S. Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.

1930: The 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft, dies in Washington at age 72.

1942: Imperial Japanese forces occupy Yangon in Burma (Myanmar) during World War II.

1944: Two days after an initial strike, U.S. heavy bombers resume raiding Berlin during World War II.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Trumbull County Commissioner Chris Lardis questions why the county Health and Human Services Department and Fairhaven School have paid $386,000 over a seven-year period to a Columbus-based consulting firm on a host of employee-related services.

Twenty-three area concert and symphonic bands participate in the Ohio Music Education Association district competition at Niles McKinley High School.

Youngstown Bishop James W. Malone will move from the former Finnegan mansion on Volney Road to a home at 6796 Tanglewood Drive in Boardman.

1972: Only 1,483 of Youngstown State University’s 16,000 students turn out for student council elections. Of those, they voted almost 2-1 in favor of a referendum asking for the resignation of President Albert Pugsley.

A knife-wielding robber kidnapped a North Side woman in broad daylight but was stopped by a stranger who wasn’t afraid to get involved when he saw the man attempt to force the woman into an abandoned house.

The Western Reserve Transit Authority gets a financial shot in the arm with an $85,000 transfer from Model Cities funds that will keep buses running at least until May.

1962: A new water line will be built across Mill Creek Park to relieve low pressure problems in the Kirkmere and Austintown areas.

Youngstown’s leading downtown stores report good results after opening their doors Wednesday night under a new night shopping policy.

Youngstown city planners say they will release within two weeks the findings of a preliminary survey on the proposed annexation of Liberty Township to the city.

1937: A 16-year-old South Side boy who was target shooting near his home is charged with manslaughter in the death of Wilma McCafferty, 9, who was struck by a bullet that came through the door of the McCafferty home.

A car occupied by three young men skids out of control to avoid striking a freight train on Poland Avenue and strikes a pole, killing one passenger, John W. Herman, 20, of Struthers. Another passenger, Paul E. Lyden Jr., 20, son of the water commissioner, is seriously injured.

Youngstown Traffic Commissioner Clarence Coppersmith orders traffic officers to “press harder than ever” in cracking down on reckless drivers.