Years Ago

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2014. There are 134 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

A.D. 14: Caesar Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, dies at age 76 after a reign lasting four decades; he is succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.

1812: The USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

1814: During the War of 1812, British forces land at Benedict, Md., with the objective of capturing Washington, D.C.

1918: “Yip! Yip! Yaphank,” a musical revue by Irving Berlin featuring Army recruits from Camp Upton in Yaphank, N.Y., opens on Broadway.

1934: A plebiscite in Germany approves the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

1936: The first of the show trials orchestrated by Soviet leader Josef Stalin begins in Moscow as 16 defendants face charges of conspiring against the government (all were convicted and executed).

1942: During World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launch a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50-percent casualties.

1955: Severe flooding in the northeastern U.S. claims some 200 lives.

1964: The Beatles open their first full-fledged U.S. tour as they perform at San Francisco’s Cow Palace.

1974: U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies is fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a protest by Greek Cypriots.

1976: President Gerald R. Ford wins the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Kansas City.

1980: Some 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 die as the jetliner makes a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.

1991: Soviet hard-liners make the stunning announcement that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapsed two days later.)

2004: Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry fights back against campaign allegations of exaggerating his combat record in Vietnam, accusing President George W. Bush of using a Republican front group “to do his dirty work.”

Google begins trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, ending the day up $15.34 at $100.34.

Carly Patterson wins gymnastics’ premier event at the Olympics in Athens, becoming the first U.S. woman to win the all-around title since Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

2009: Suicide bombers strike Iraq’s finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100 people.

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Antone’s files suit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking to preserve a coveted spot at the Canfield Fair, where it has had a food stand for 15 years. The company says it never received an application to renew rental of its space.

Hillcrest Memorial Park files an appeal of a Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board denial of a permit to allow the cemetery to operate a small children’s petting zoo.

A Niles patrolman says he was wrongly accused of police brutality and has responded by suing his accuser, a McDonald woman, for $1.1 million.

1974: Mary Jane Standohar reigns as queen of Girard’s 21st annual homecoming. Members of her court are Carolle Nelson and Sue Callard.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Vincent Gilmartin says he may take the case of irregularities in the Youngstown Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation to a grand jury. The state attorney general’s office issued a lengthy report suggesting kickbacks in the Youngstown office.

Denver Broncos rookie linebacker Randy Gradishar, a former Ohio State and Champion High School standout, intercepts a San Francisco pass with three minutes left and runs it back for a touchdown to break a 3-3 tie and win the game.

1964: The Vindicator is publishing under a handicap — the first strike in its history, called by Youngstown Local 11, American Newspaper Guild.

Four members of the Ohio Association of Real Estate Boards issues a report recommending that Warren and Howland townships be annexed to the city of Warren.

Mount Union College receives $26,000 for its scholarship fund from the estate of Wilbur Westwood of Alliance.

1939: The Pittsburgh Coal Co. announces $500,000 in improvements at its Smith Ferry river-rail terminal and its Negley coal washing plant in anticipation of greater coal demand by Youngstown district steel plants.

Three Youngstown district companies — Standard Transformer Co., Republic Steel Corp. and Kinsman Sand and Gravel Co. — receive government orders totaling more than $101,000.