Years Ago

Today is Saturday, May 10, the 130th day of 2014. There are 235 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1611: Sir Thomas Dale arrives in the Virginia Colony, where, as deputy governor, he institutes harsh measures to restore order.

1863: During the Civil War, Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson dies of pneumonia.

1869: A golden spike is driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

1924: J. Edgar Hoover is named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI).

1933: The Nazis stage massive public book burnings in Germany.

1939: The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church merge to form the Methodist Church.

1960: The nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton completes its submerged navigation of the globe.

1977: Actress Joan Crawford dies in New York.

1984: The International Court of Justice says the United States should halt any actions to blockade Nicaragua’s ports (the U.S. had already said it would not recognize World Court jurisdiction on this issue).

1994: Nelson Mandela takes the oath of office in Pretoria to become South Africa’s first black president.

The state of Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys.

2013: The Internal Revenue Service apologizes for what it acknowledges was “inappropriate” targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Tom Wedge, author of “The Satan Hunter” tells more than 400 people at a meeting in Hubbard what symbols to watch for in determining whether Satanists are active in the area. Wedge came to Hubbard in response to rumors of occult practices in the area.

Youngstown reaches an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove toxic chemicals from the former Aeroquip property on Albert Street at an estimated cost to the city of $300,000.

Terrence Sanchez, who escaped from the Lawrence County Jail and was free for a month, is captured hiding in the basement of an Erie, Pa., house by Erie police who got a tip on his whereabouts.

1974: The Federal Housing Authority is urged by the Eastgate Development and Transportation Agency to guarantee loans totaling $5 million for construction of two low-income housing projects in Warren and one for $1.6 million in Youngstown.

Three youths, two of them suspects in a narcotics holdup at a South Side pharmacy, are captured by city police when they were thrown from their auto as it crashed into a pole in Salt Springs Road after a high-speed chase over West Side streets.

Trumbull County commissioners pass a resolution objecting to plans by Youngstown to fill Lake Milton to its summer pool, saying the action would endanger people living along the Mahoning River in Newton and Braceville townships should the dam fail.

1964: More than 500 Niles residents, area political and civic leaders honor Mayor Carmen DeChristofaro at a testimonial dinner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School.

Sgt. George E. Smith, 25, of Chester, W. Va., previously reported missing in action in Vietnam, is identified as a prisoner of war by newspaperman Wilfred Burchett, a resident of Moscow who writes for Communist newspapers.

The campus of Youngstown University takes on the air of a county fair when more than 1,000 students participate in Spring Weekend activities.

1939: Nick Babich, 54, a Russian-born WPA worker from Warren, dies in Ohio’s electric chair for the murder of a neighbor, Dan Gross, a few hours after Babich had also killed his own wife.

Mahoning County’s direct relief load, which normally would be declining at this time of year, is maintaining a steady level because of increased WPA layoffs, says County Relief director Isadore L. Feuer.