YEARS AGO

Today is Sunday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2015. There are 74 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1685: King Louis XIV signs the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes that had established legal toleration of France’s Protestant population, the Huguenots.

1767: The Mason-Dixon line, the boundary between colonial Pennsylvania and Maryland, is set as astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey.

1931: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison dies in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.

1944: Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia during World War II.

1954: Texas Instruments unveils the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.

1962: James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins are honored with the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.

1982: Former first lady Bess Truman dies at her home in Independence, Mo., at age 97.

VINDICATOR FILES

1990: Striking New Castle, Pa., teachers picket the Central Fire Station to call attention to what they say is the hypocrisy of school board President Jeff Scrim, who is also president of Local 160 of the International Association of Firefighters.

Dr. David Robinson, a professor of speech and communications at Youngstown State University, says Ohio was the loser in a televised debate between gubernatorial candidates George V. Voinovich and Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. because both candidates hid behind well-worn slogans and safe observations.

A dozen landlords descend on Youngstown City Council and successfully lobby for amendments to tough regulations governing rental property that had been proposed by Mayor Patrick Ungaro.

1975: U.S. District Judge Thomas Lambros dismisses a lawsuit by Youngstown Police Chief Donald Baker that sought an injunction against further city council hearings on the chief’s conduct in office.

Robert D. Lund, GM vice president and Chevrolet Division general manager, predicts that 1976 will be a good year for the Lordstown-produced Vega subcompact.

Alan Scharsu covers the 2-mile course in a meet record of 9:41.6 to lead Austintown to its seventh straight Class AAA Sectional Cross Country Tournament.

1965: Syro Steel of Girard is awarded an $8.1 million contract by Defense Department for landing mats needed by the government.

Joe Vitullo of Hubbard demonstrates his skill in authoritative fashion, retaining the Youngstown District PGA championship at the Mahoning Country Club.

What is believed to be the oldest aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory, a twin-engine Douglas C47 built in 1942, is still in service at the Air Reserve base at Youngstown Municipal Airport.

1940: Youngstown District steel production will rise to 91 percent of capacity, setting a 1940 record as mills continue to receive good orders for miscellaneous domestic uses and national defense.

Vandals destroy the helmet and part of the head of the marble statue of Minerva in front of the Butler Institute of American Art.

Old friends, including steel officials from throughout the Valley, gather as Niles Rotary Club honors P.J. “Pat” Sheehan, superintendent of the Niles Firebrick Co. and an employee there for 59 years.