Years Ago

Today is Sunday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2015. There are 326 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she is implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1910: The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated.

1915: D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking as well as controversial silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premieres in Los Angeles.

1952: Queen Elizabeth II proclaims her accession to the British throne after the death of her father, King George VI.

1965: The Supremes’ record “Stop! In the Name of Love!” is released.

1968: Three college students are killed in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.

2005: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announce a cease-fire at a summit in Egypt.

2010: Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop superstar in Los Angeles Superior Court.

2014: In an assertion of same-sex marriage rights, Attorney General Eric Holder announces that same-sex spouses could not be compelled to testify against each other.

VINDICATOR FILES

1990: The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reopens the question of whether the boundaries of Ohio’s 52nd and 53rd House districts violate the U.S. Voting Rights Act, and Don L. Hanni Jr., Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman, says he would welcome a federal court’s redrawing of the districts to give black voters a stronger voice in one of the districts.

All Seasons Resorts Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif., offers to purchase Ponderosa Park near Salem and the Landing campground near Canal Fulton because of the sizeable memberships at both parks.

Over 1,000 people attend Sandalini’s 13th annual Sports Banquet in Niles, where Boardman’s Dave Dravecky is honored as Man of the Year. Several of Dravecky’s San Francisco Giants teammates were in attendance.

1975: Lykes-Youngstown Corp. reports record revenue, operating incomes and profits in 1974. Its basic steel firm had sales of $1.6 billion, a 43 percent increase over a year earlier.

In a move that shook Trumbull County government, Treasurer Carl Lupi discharges 18 employees — everyone in his office except his secretary. The employees receive special delivery letters after arriving home from work telling them that their employment was terminated at the end of the work day.

Ohio State University President Harold L. Enarson recommends a 14 percent pay hike for OSU faculty and staff, funded partially by budget cuts through the rest of the university.

1965: James Henderson, Ottawa Drive, a pioneer in the automobile business in the Youngstown area, dies at 81. He began selling Brush runabouts in 1910, took over the Willys-Overland franchise in 1917 and established Henderson Chevrolet in 1933.

Youngstowners Mary Ritter and Joan Best are early leaders in the 39th Ohio Women’s Bowling Tournament held over 17 weekends in Middletown.

Five companies in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys will host over 100 guidance teachers from 30 area school districts as part of a series of “School-Industry Seminars.”

1940: Youngstown’s new mayor, William Spagnola, says the new municipal building nearing completion “is entirely inadequate to serve its purpose” and “is the most misconceived and misconstructed one from the viewpoint of the needs and desires of the police department.”

Youngstown lottery operators, hard hit by losses of as much as $100,000 in bug losses over six weeks, are crossing their fingers and hoping for a “breathing spell.”

Atty. Edwin Zeiger, secretary of the fair board, announces improvements costing about $1,600 at the Canfield fairgrounds to permit holding polo games and midget auto races during the summer.