Thursday, April 17, 2014
Today is Thursday, April 17, the 107th day of 2014. There are 258 days left in the year.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
On this date in:
1492: A contract is signed by Christopher Columbus and a representative of Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
1521: Martin Luther goes before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (He was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)
1851: The Virginia State Convention votes to secede from the union.
1924: The motion picture studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is founded, the result of a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Co.
1937: The animated cartoon character Daffy Duck debuts in the Warner Bros. cartoon “Porky’s Duck Hunt,” directed by Tex Avery.
1961: Some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launch the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crush the incursion by the third day.
VINDICATOR FILES
1989: Ohio state senators are skeptical that requiring a handgun identification card or imposing a 14-day waiting period to buy a handgun as proposed in a bill introduced in the Senate would be effective in keeping criminals from obtaining pistols.
Enrollment for the spring quarter at Youngstown State University is stable at 13,620 students, but enrollment in the School of Education is up by 9 percent.
A Youngstown State University study of radon levels in private homes in Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties shows little cause for alarm with only 10 of 106 testing kits show radon levels that exceed EPA tolerance of four picocuries per liter of air.
1974: Jerry Flanigan, a Warren mechanic, says he removes emission control systems from newer model autos despite arguments it may be illegal for a simple reason: it saves lives by giving the cars more power.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. will make back-pay settlements of $250 to $3,000 per person as part of a $30 million settlement between nine major steel companies and the United Steelworkers of America. The Sheet & Tube share will be $2 million.
After a breakdown in negotiations between the Warren Police Association and the city, most of the city’s police officers on the 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. shifts call off sick.
1964: Walter E. Watson, retired vice chairman of the board of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. who died recently, left an estate of $3.4 million, including his home at 1216 Fifth Ave., appraised at $40,000.
Every mile of Interstate 80 from I-71 near Medina to the Pennsylvania line will be built or under construction by the end of the year, Gov. James A. Rhodes pledges during a groundbreaking ceremony in Hubbard.
Berlin and Mosquito reservoirs prevented $5.4 million in flood damage in Youngstown during heavy March rains, says a report by the Army Corps of Engineers.
1939: Hundreds of orphans and crippled children are guests of the Junior Chamber of Commerce at the first performance of the indoor circus at the Rayen-Wood Auditorium.
Kenneth L. Brown, Youngstown Boy Scout executive, is awarded $100 by the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks for his essay on the meaning of “Americanism,” which was judged best in the nation.
A large crowd attends the anniversary of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority and the observance of Negro Business Week at the W. Federal “Y” with Atty. Elsie Austin of Cincinnati as the guest speaker.