Years Ago

Today is Saturday, Sept. 15, the 259th day of 2012. There are 107 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1789: The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs is renamed the Department of State.

1857: William Howard Taft — who served as President of the United States and as U.S. chief justice — is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1935: The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of their citizenship.

1942: During World War II, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; the U.S. Navy ends up sinking the badly damaged vessel.

1950: During the Korean conflict, United Nations forces land at Incheon in the south and begin their drive toward Seoul.

1954: As raucous fans look on, Marilyn Monroe films the famous billowing-skirt scene for “The Seven Year Itch” over a Lexington Ave. subway grate in Manhattan (however, little, if any, of the footage ends up in the movie; the scene is later reshot on a Hollywood set).

1963: Four black girls are killed when a bomb goes off during Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. (Three Ku Klux Klansmen are eventually convicted for their roles in the blast.)

1982: The first edition of USA Today is published.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Boardman Township trustees unanimously approve a $5 license plate tax for township residents, which will raise an estimated $150,000 for roads.

A 16-page instructional guide designed to help elementary students better understand the U.S. Constitution is being distributed by The Vindicator to 65,000 pupils in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

Over the objections of the Bessemer Borough Council, the Lawrence County Tax Claim Bureau approves an extended payment plan to collect $143,331 in delinquent taxes from the U.S. Cement Co. in Bessemer, Pa.

1972: Three men arrested by Youngstown’s income tax division for failure to pay delinquent taxes plead guilty in municipal court and are given 30-day suspended sentences provided they pay their taxes.

Brynn Drake, 18, of Hanoverton is selected during a pageant at David Anderson High School in Lisbon to reign as queen of the Johnny Appleseed Festival. Runners-up are Suzanne Schehl of Salem, Sheila Clapsaddle of Kensington and Frances Blanchard of Kensington.

Dr. David Belinky, Mahoning County coroner, deplores the apparent lack of concern by the Ohio Highway Department over correcting inadequate lights and signs in state Route 7 near the Ohio Turnpike, a stretch of road that has claimed the lives of seven pedestrians in six years.

1962: Youngstown University enrollment for the fall term is 8,040, an increase of 378 over a year earlier and a record.

A 19-month-old state liquor citation against Tisone’s Tavern at 1810 Wilson Ave. for allowing horse race betting finally catches up to Carmen Tisone, who is told to shut down immediately for 21 days.

U.S. Rep. Michael Kirwan is named honorary chairman for a giant dinner Sept. 29 at Idora Park honoring former President Harry Truman. Some 2,100 people are expected.

1937: Testimony during an income conspiracy case in Clarksburg, W. Va., reveals that William Lias, reputed king of the Wheeling numbers racket, expanded his operations in 1931 and 1932 into six Ohio cities, Bellaire, Bridgeport, Martins Ferry, Steubenville, East Liverpool and Yorkville after buying a syndicate from Ben F. Cooper of Steubenville.

Ohio’s 36 college football teams will play 195 games this fall, many of them out of state or against out-of-state opponents on Ohio turf. The Ohio State Buckeyes will make the longest jaunt, to the Southern Cal campus in Los Angeles.

Councilman Innocenzo Vagnozzi points to the murder of Wilson Avenue tavern owner James Tisone as “only one example of the flagrant law violations” in the Haselton area and urges Police Chief Carl Olson to assign more policemen to the area.