Years Ago

Today is Sunday, Sept. 21, the 264th day of 2014. There are 101 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1792: The French National Convention votes to abolish the monarchy.

1897: The New York Sun runs its famous editorial, written anonymously by Francis P. Church, which declares, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

1912: Magician Harry Houdini first publicly performs his “Water Torture Cell” trick at the Circus Busch in Berlin.

1938: A hurricane strikes parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives.

1948: Milton Berle debuts as permanent host of “The Texaco Star Theater” on NBC-TV.

The legal mystery-drama “Perry Mason,” starring Raymond Burr, premieres on CBS-TV.

1970: “NFL Monday Night Football” makes its debut on ABC-TV as the Cleveland Browns defeat the visiting New York Jets, 31-21.

1982: National Football League players begin a 57-day strike, their first regular-season walkout ever.

1987: NFL players call a strike, mainly over the issue of free agency. (The 24-day walkout prompted football owners to hire replacement players.)

1989: Hurricane Hugo crashes into Charleston, S.C., (the storm was blamed for 56 deaths in the Caribbean and 29 in the United States).

Twenty-one students in Alton, Texas, die when their school bus, hit by a soft-drink delivery truck, careened into a pit.

1991: An 18-hour hostage drama ends in Sandy, Utah, as Richard L. Worthington, who’d seized control of a hospital maternity ward and killed a nurse, finally frees his nine captives, including a baby born during the siege. (Worthington committed suicide in prison in 1993.)

2004: President George W. Bush, defending his decision to invade Iraq, urges the U.N. General Assembly to stand united with the country’s struggling government.

Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is taken off a London-to-Washington United Airlines flight because his name shows up on a government “no-fly” list. (Islam’s brother and business manager, David Gordon, denied the singer had any ties to suspected terrorists.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Theresa A. Trucksis, assistant director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, will replace retiring Director Robert H. Donahugh.

Youngstown State University teachers ratify a two-year contract, leaving some faculty with minutes to spare before their fall quarter classes were to begin.

An eight-member jury in Niles Municipal Court finds a history teacher at Niles McKinley High School not guilty of assault charges filed by parents of a student. The foreman of the jury said the jury believed the teacher was within his rights to grab a student by the shirt while reprimanding him for an incident involving throwing paper.

1974: The Ohio Board of Regents unveils a $1.3 billion two-year budget that would increase Youngstown State University’s subsidy from less than $12 million to almost $19 million in the 1976-77 school year.

The landing gear of a twin-engine cargo plane collapses at Youngstown Municipal Airport as it lands from Pontiac, Mich., disrupting air traffic.

Van Huffel Tube Corp. will install a large- diameter electric resistance welding tubing mill costing about $500,000 at its Warren plant, says D.O. Townsend, company president.

1964: Ashtabula County Sheriff Thomas Fasula says a 26-year-old one-time busboy from Las Vegas has been charged with murder in the beating death of 17-year-old Susan Osborne, a junior at Conneaut High School.

Jack Nicklaus fires a five under par 67 to win the $40,000 Portland Open Golf Tournament with a total of 275 for 72 holes.

1939: Harry Simcox, 20, of 83 Wilson Ave., Struthers, is killed when his car is struck by a locomotive and driven into a milk truck at the B&O crossing on Bridge Street. Injured are Joe Raysor, 27, the milk-truck driver, and Fred Marrie, 15, riding with Raysor.

Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp. officials announce that all 40 tin mills at the Shenango plant in New Castle, Pa., will be put in operation, resulting in the recall of about 2,500 employees.

Charles Carolyne, chairman of the Junior Chamber of Commerce beautification committee, says about $1,400 is available for work to be done in October on the hillside above the Erie tracks between Wick Avenue and Phelps Street.