YEARS AGO

Today is Thursday, June 11, the 162nd day of 2015. There are 203 days left in the year.

Associated Press

On this date in:

1770: Capt. James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, discovers the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it.

1919: Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner.

1962: Three prisoners at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay stage an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft; they were never found or heard from again.

1977: Seattle Slew wins the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown.

vindicator files

1990: Mahoning County commissioners are weighing whether to impose a license-plate fee to raise money for road repairs, but say they’ve decided that the issue will not be placed on the ballot, based on the experience of other counties that saw such issues defeated.

Sister Bernarda Sebak, a Vincentian Sister of Charity, marks 50 years as an educator, most recently as a library supervisor at St. Matthias School in Youngstown.

Atty. Stephen T. Bolton of Manchester, Bennett, Powers & Ullman, is appointed a member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Media Law Committee.

1975: The Steel Street bridge overpass at Interstate 680 will be closed for several days after a tractor-trailer carrying ingot slams into bridge supports. The driver, Lawrence Drummond, 59, of Warren is killed.

Three credit unions will share a modern triangular building that will cost $800,0000 to construct at East Federal Street and South Avenue, across from the new post office.

Youngstown police vice officers arrest 11 people and expect to round up more, climaxing a five-month investigation into drug activity.

1965: Mrs. Raymond Rogers, executive director of the Home for the Aged, retires after 31 years and will be succeeded by Mrs. George Atcheson.

Youngstown’s champion speller, Nicky Harris, places eighth in the National Spelling Bee, falling in the 11th round on the word “contretemps.”

Donald C. Cover is appointed Boardman Township fire chief, succeeding H.W. Ewing, who resigned.

1940: Mrs. George Paul says it is good to be home in Youngstown with her daughter, Sally Jane, 20 months, and son George, Jr., one month, after two years in England, where her husband remains working on the John Summers & Sons Steel Co. at Shotting, England.

The razing of old St. Columba’s Church at Hazel and Wood streets begins by the J.T. Rochford Co. The land will be leased as a parking lot.

William Kelley, U.S. Navy recruiting officer in Youngstown, reports that William J. McGee of Warren, Harry D. Humble of Girard and Earl L. Masters of Youngstown are accepted for enlistment.