Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 21, the 233th day of 2013. There are 132 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1831: Nat Turner leads a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people. He is later executed.

1858: The first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas takes place.

1863: Pro-Confederate raiders attack Lawrence, Kan., massacring the men and destroying the town’s buildings.

1911: Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The painting is recovered two years later in Italy.

VINDICATOR FILES

1988: U. S. Rep. Thomas Ridge, R-Pa., says he has designed a targeted economic development plan that will blunt charges by Democrats that the Reagan administration has failed to address problems in areas such as the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.

School officials in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys say that if the extreme heat wave continues into the opening days of classes they are considering relaxing dress codes to allow students to wear shorts and other lighter clothing.

1973: For the first time in its history, the All-American Soap Box Derby strips a champion of his crown after the winner’s car is found to have an ingenious electro-magnetic launcher built into it.

Anthony M. Veck of Youngstown is elected president of the National Association of Wolves at their 23rd annual convention in Franklin, Pa.

1963: Municipal Judge Don L. Hanni Jr. sentences an 18-year-old amateur boxer and his two companions who beat a special policeman unconscious when he tried to break up a fight at Mack’s Roller Rink to six months in jail and fines them $200, but suspends the jail term on the condition that they visit the Mansfield Reformatory and stay out of trouble.

A visiting court of appeals upholds two convictions and prison sentences against Youngstown racketeer Joey Naples in connection with his gambling activities.

Youngstown Airways, operator of the flying service at the Youngstown Municipal Airport, orders jet-powered executive planes valued at $1.4 million.

1938: Mahoning County Democrats pick Peter J. Corll and Fred Shutrump to lead the Mahoning County Democratic Party. Corll’s selection was a move to give recognition to non-Catholics, since none of the party’s nominees in the county are Protestants.

Ernest Bachus, 11, is presumed drowned after he was knocked from a skiff in the Ohio River near East Liverpool by a pontoon monoplane that was taking off.

Dwight “Dike” Beede, coach of the Youngstown college football team that is opening training for its first season, uses poker chips on a desk top to visualize offensive and defensive plays for his team.