YEARS AGO

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2014. There is one day left in the year.

Associated Press

On this date in:

1813: British troops burn Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.

1853: The United States and Mexico sign a treaty under which the U.S. agrees to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.

1903: About 600 people die when fire breaks out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

1922: Vladimir I. Lenin proclaims the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasts nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991.

1936: The United Auto Workers union stages its first “sit-down” strike at the General Motors Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich. (The strike lasted until Feb. 11, 1937.)

1944: King George II of Greece proclaims a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne.

1965: Ferdinand Marcos is inaugurated for his first term as president of the Philippines.

1979: Broadway composer Richard Rodgers dies in New York at age 77.

1989: A Northwest Airlines DC-10, which had been the target of a telephoned threat, flies safely from Paris to Detroit with 22 passengers amid extra-tight security.

1994: A gunman walks into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opens fire, killing two employees. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)

1999: Former Beatle George Harrison fights off a knife-wielding intruder who breaks into his mansion west of London and stabbed him in the chest. (Michael Abram was later acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: An alcohol-free New Year’s Eve party for teenagers planned by the Mahoning County Task Force on Drinking and Driving is canceled because not enough tickets are sold. Organizers were hoping for as many as 500, but just 142 were sold.

Raymond Spires says his faithful mixed-breed dog awakened him, saving him from a fire that destroyed his Lafayette Street home, but then ran back into the burning house and died.

Edith Penton, retiring as organist and choir director at Gibson Heights Second Presbyterian Church after 55 years, is honored with a dinner after her last Sunday service.

1974: John Lucansky, 62, of Campbell is found beaten and shot in the head at Vivo’s Iron & Metal on Wilson Avenue. Police say the office had been ransacked and about $50 was taken from a cash box.

Undefeated Youngstown State is given a hard contest by Samford (Ala.) University through the first half, but breaks away to an 83-77 victory, capturing the championship of the second annual Youngstown Basketball Classic at Beeghly Center.

American Industries Corp. files a $59.6 million suit against Sharon Steel Corp. charging breach of contract and violation of the antitrust laws.

1964: Sixteen service plazas on the Ohio Turnpike offer free coffee to motorists traveling on New Year’s eve.

George B. Lenahan, Broadway Avenue, is the only Youngstown resident still living among the initial beneficiaries of Social Security. At age 90, Lenahan has been receiving payments for 25 years.

Bethlehem Steel, Warren, orders three Ajax Magnethermic 25-ton melding furnaces for its new $4.5 million cast-iron roll foundry.

Joseph Licavoli, Toledo hoodlum convicted of first-degree murder in the 1930s, is denied clemency by Gov. James A. Rhodes, meaning at least five more years in prison.

1939: Ohio’s deputy fire marshal, Michael J. Mellillo, is named Youngstown fire chief by Mayor-elect William B. Spagnola.

Ice skating opens at two Youngstown parks, Lincoln and South Side, but is permitted only during the day. Ice at Mill Creek Park is still one inch short of the four inches needed for skating.

George C. Brainard, a leading figure in Youngstown industrial and financial circles, is reappointed chairman of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank for 1940.