YEARS AGO

Today is Monday, Oct. 5, the 278th day of 2015. There are 87 days left in the year.

Associated Press

On this date in:

1829: The 21st president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, is born in North Fairfield, Vermont.

1931: Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon complete the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Washington state some 41 hours after leaving Japan.

1947: President Harry S. Truman delivers the first televised White House address as he speaks on the world food crisis.

1953: Earl Warren is sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.

1955: A stage adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett opens at the Cort Theatre in New York.

1969: The British TV comedy program “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” debuts on BBC 1.

1984: The space shuttle Challenger blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center on an 8-day mission; the crew includes Kathryn D. Sullivan, who becomes the first American woman to walk in space, and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian astronaut.

1988: Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambastes Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

1990: A jury in Cincinnati acquitted an art gallery and its director of obscenity charges stemming from an exhibit of sexually graphic photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

2005: Defying the White House, senators vote 90-9 to approve an amendment sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in U.S. government custody. (A reluctant President George W. Bush later signed off on the amendment.)

2014: A suicide bomber blows himself up in Grozny, killing five policemen and wounding 12 others as the Chechen capital celebrates the birthday of its pro-Russian leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

VINDICATOR FILES

1990: In response to a teachers strike in New Castle, Pa., that began Sept. 19, a group of 50 area churches announce they will offer daily programs from 9 a.m to noon at the McGill Presbyterian Center and the old Arthur McGill Elementary School until the strike is settled.

Ohio’s abortion notification law goes into effect, meaning that women seeking abortions in Ohio clinics will have to show identification proving that they are at least 18 years old.

A long-awaited Kirk Road waterline replacement expected to end years of sporadic flooding along the Austintown road is being delayed because Youngstown Water Department revenue is down by 6.5 percent.

1975: A once-drab rear wall of three West Market Street buildings in downtown Warren have been transformed into a multi-hued chessboard as part of “Project Facelift,” a beautification project sponsored by the Warren Area Jaycee-Ettes.

Dr. William J. Clarke of the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus says miniature pigs are being bred and used to test baby food, cosmetics, inoculations and other products and procedures.

The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra opens its 49th season before a near-capacity audience in Powers Auditorium with a program of Berlioz, Beethoven, and Rimsky[-Korsakoff.

1965: The Youngstown area’s first killing frost hits as the temperature drops to 34 degrees, matching a record for the date set in 1958.

The Ohio Highway Department reports a contract for construction of a bridge over the Mahoning River at Lowellville has been awarded to a Poland contracting company on a bid of $551,729.

Youngstown City Hall’s 300 workers evacuate their offices in less than three minutes as the city opens the annual observance of Fire Prevention Week with a fire drill.

1940: Both United Airlines and Pennsylvania Central Airlines say they are ready to begin service at Youngstown’s new municipal airport.

Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity holds the season’s first smoker at the Four Square Club on Market Street.

The Youngstown College Penguins trounce Detroit Tech, 34-6, before 6,400 fans at Rayen Stadium.