Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, April 30, the 120th day of 2014. There are 245 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

A.D. 311: Shortly before his death, Roman Emperor Galerius issues his Edict of Toleration ending persecution of Christians.

1789: George Washington takes the oath of office in New York as the first president of the United States.

1803: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

1864: Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ five-year-old son, Joseph Evan Davis, dies in a fall at the Confederate White House in Richmond, Va.

1900: Engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad dies in a train wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers.

1939: The New York World’s Fair officially opens with a ceremony that includes an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Samantha Tochtenhagen, 13, of McDonald, a student at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Austintown, receives the governor’s award at the State Science Day for her study showing that cancer-causing agents deposited in the Mahoning River during steel and coke production could hypothetically infiltrate the area water supply.

University of Iowa head football coach Hayden Fry will be the featured speaker at the first Ron Stoops Scholarship Dinner in honor of the late Cardinal Mooney assistant football coach. Three of Stoops’ sons, Bob, Mike and Mark have played for Fry.

Members of Sigma Chi fraternity at Youngstown State University help refurbish a duplex on W. Dennick Avenue on Youngstown’s North Side for a family of Russian immigrants: Samuel A. Cheloff, 84, and Gina Cheloff, 77; Dr. Michael and Natalia Cheloff, both 40, and Gregory Cheloff, 15.

1974: Police Capt. James M. McBride is assigned to head the Youngstown Police Department’s traffic division.

Astronaut John Glenn names Dr. George D. Beelen, YSU history professor, and Atty. Paul M. Dutton to take charge of Glenn’s U.S. senatorial campaign in Mahoning County.

1964: Youngstown City Council approves a salary of $10,000 for the hiring of a new executive director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

Booming automobile sales boost General Motors Corp.’s first quarter profits to $536 million on sales of $4.7 billion. Worldwide employment rose to 683,680, up from 637,623 for the same quarter a year earlier.

1939: More than 500 people attend opening day of the Mahoning-Shenango Kennel Club Show at the Idora Park dance pavilion, where 400 dogs are competing.

The Jungle Inn, located just across the Trumbull County line, reopens after six months, and Sheriff Roy S. Hardman says it is attracting Youngstown’s gamblers, who are not wanted.

Georgia Baker, Youngs-town winner of the Ohio American Legion essay contest, joins other state winners in a visit to Washington, D.C., and poses on the steps of the Capitol with U.S. Rep. Dudley White, R-Ohio.