Years Ago

Today is Friday, March 16, the 76th day of 2012. There are 290 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1912: Future first lady Pat Nixon is born Thelma Catherine Ryan in Ely, Nev.

1945: During World War II, American forces declare they have secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained.

1968: During the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre of Vietnamese civilians is carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.

1972: In a nationally broadcast address, President Richard M. Nixon calls for a moratorium on court-ordered school busing to achieve racial desegregation.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Youngstown Bishop James Malone speaks in defense of the Vatican’s latest statement opposing test-tube fertilization, experiments on living embryos and surrogate motherhood on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Georgetown rallies from a 15-point deficit to beat Ohio State in the final seconds of a second-round Southeast Regional game in Atlanta, Ga.

1972: The Aut Mori Grotto circus opens its four-day run with a performance before 3,285 school children at the Struthers Field House.

James L. Wick Jr. , 89, retired industrialist and president of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, dies of infirmities at his home at 384 S. Belle Vista Ave.

1962:Fire, fanned by a brisk wind, destroys the Squaw Creek Country Club despite efforts of 75 firefighters from throughout the area, including some from the Youngstown Air Reserve Base. The loss is estimated at $350,000 to the recently remodeled club house.

Two Warren boys are killed when the bicycle they were riding is hit head-on by a car in Larchmont Avenue just north of the city limits. Dead are Donald Black, 13, and Stanley Gaston, 14.

1937: A one-day sitdown strike at the Youngstown Towel Supply Co.’s North Ave. plant ends at 11 p.m. with a 33 to 50 percent wage increase for nearly 100 employees, union organization and provisions for a closed shop.

Nearly 600 men and women enter the second day of a sitdown strike at the Ohio Leather Co. plant asking for wage increases and outside union recognition.