YEARS AGO

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2015. There are 330 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1783: Britain’s King George III proclaims a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.

1789: Electors choose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

1861: Delegates from six southern states that had recently seceded from the Union meet in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.

1919: Congress establishes the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal and the Navy Cross.

1932: New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opens the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

1941: The United Service Organizations (USO) comes into existence.

1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin begin a wartime conference at Yalta.

1962: A rare conjunction of the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurs.

VINDICATOR FILES

1990: Workers compensation costs at the General Motors Corp.’s Lordstown complex have soared out of control and threaten the plant’s future, GM officials say.

Mahoning County Treasurer George McKelvey rehires former Treasurer Michael Pope’s chief assistant on a part-time basis. The assistant, John T. Vukovich, had retired and received $48,855 as payment for unused sick leave and vacation time accrued under Pope.

The noted Chinese-American artist Chen Chi will come to Youngstown to open a major retrospective exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art.

1975: Ninety-three automobile dealers from Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties launch an intensive campaign to stimulate automobile sales using the slogan, “It’s a Good Day to Buy a Car.”

Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Elwyn Jenkins issues a ruling clearing the way for the city of Campbell to pay its 85 employees who have not received a paycheck in January because of a budget disagreement between City Council and the administration.

A comprehensive air travel survey is being conducted by the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce in an effort to obtain improved flight service at the Youngstown Municipal Airport.

1965: George Hojer and George W. Morrison are promoted to vice presidents, and John A. Saunders, president of General Fireproofing Co., is named a director.

An investigation into the Air Force Academy cheating scandal is completed with 105 cadets tendering their resignations. Those who stole or sold exam papers will receive dishonorable discharges.

1940: St. Louis Browns say they will pay the $15,000 sponsor’s share of a $60,000 WPA project to build a municipal stadium in Youngstown if the city prepares plans for the stadium and a lease for it within 90 days.

The board of directors of the Pennsylvania Power Co. approve the expenditure of $1 million in 1940 for improvements of equipment in New Castle.

Police Chief John Turnbull says the city’s two-way radio system has become a vital weapon in the fight against crime. Youngstown got one radio for a police captain’s car during the steel strike of 1937, and every police cruiser now has a radio.