Years Ago

Today is Thursday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2014. There are 41 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1620: Peregrine White is born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay; he is the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.

1910: The Mexican Revolution of 1910 has its beginnings under the Plan of San Luis Potosi issued by Francisco I. Madero.

1929: The radio program “The Rise of the Goldbergs” debuts on the NBC Blue Network.

1959: The United Nations issues its Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

1962: President John F. Kennedy has a news conference in which he announces the end of the naval quarantine of Cuba imposed during the missile crisis, and the signing of an executive order prohibiting discrimination in federal housing facilities.

1967: The U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Clock at the Commerce Department ticks past 200 million.

1969: The Nixon administration announces a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phaseout.

1975: After nearly four decades of absolute rule, Spain’s Gen. Francisco Franco dies, two weeks before his 83rd birthday.

1984: Pop star Michael Jackson is inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the unveiling of his star in front of a horde of screaming fans.

1992: Fire seriously damages Windsor Castle.

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Carol Dougherty, coordinator of Project Opportunity for the Mahoning Valley Literacy Commission, says literacy has been decreasing in the United States since 1950 even as modern jobs require better reading comprehension.

According to a recent survey of 17 Midwest markets, the Youngstown- Warren downtowns rank second-to-worst in vacancy rates for retail space, while the suburban occupancy rates are among the best.

The Martig family, which runs the biggest dairy farm in Columbiana County, has been diversifying by growing sunflowers for use in bird feed, and they’re now marketing their own brand, “Birds Luv ’Em.”

1974: Return to the central city can be achieved through downtown residential facilities, mass transportation and cultural activities, David E. Babcock, president of May Department Stores Co., tells some 500 people at the 69th annual dinner of the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce at the Maronite Center.

Youngstown-Warren Metropolitan Area will receive $11.4 million over the next six years from the $11.8 billion National Mass Transportation Assistance Act that is expected to be passed by the House and signed by President Ford.

1964: Christopher Stanley, senior at Woodrow Wilson High School, will represent area students at a Chamber of Commerce meeting where he will speak on “Our World Ahead.”

Harding Roach, federal mediator, reports little progress in settling a three-month strike by the Newspaper Guild against The Vindicator.

Gov. James A. Rhodes announces the appointment of Mrs. Ethel Gesue of Warren, a member of the staff of Trumbull Memorial Hospital, to the state board of nursing education and registration.

1939: United Engineering and Foundry Co. will spend $1 million on an office building and additions to its modern plant along the Mahoning River, west of the Market Street Viaduct.

John L. Mayo, subregional director of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, is elected president of the Mahoning Industrial Union Council, which is composed of delegates of the CIO and affiliated locals representing rubber workers, steel workers, utility workers and construction workers.

Youngstown district auto accidents claim six lives over the weekend. Dead are Ralph Page, 30, and his wife, Lee, of Warren; Dick Wagner, 21, of Poland; George Walker, 73, of Struthers; Peter Pallai, 56, of Petersburg; and Charles Furey, 28, of Mercer, Pa.