YEARS AGO

Today is Thursday, Dec. 1, the 336th day of 2016. There are 30 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1862: President Abraham Lincoln sends his Second Annual Message to Congress, in which he calls for the abolition of slavery.

1921: The Navy flies the first nonrigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 travels from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington, D.C.

1941: Japan’s Emperor Hirohito approves waging war against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands after his government rejects U.S. demands contained in the Hull Note.

1955: Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, is arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus; the incident sparks a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.

1965: An airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States begins in which thousands of Cubans are allowed to leave their homeland.

1990: British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel between their countries finally meet after knocking out a passage in a service tunnel.

2015: President Barack Obama tells a U.N. climate conference that parts of the global warming deal being negotiated in Paris should be legally binding on the countries that signed on, setting up a potential fight with Republicans at home.

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: Jeff Wilkins kicks a 33-yard field goal with 6 seconds left on the clock to lift the YSU Penguins to a 17-16 victory over Villanova in a Division 1-AA first round playoff game before 9,556 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.

A growing number of tax abatements awarded to companies for building in the Mahoning Valley over the last decade are bringing some criticism, especially from school districts that are losing the bulk of the revenue.

A survey of Mahoning Valley residents shows that most believe strongly that Youngstown Municipal Airport should remain open, even though most have not used it in the last two years.

1976: The Mahoning County grand jury indicts three Youngstown-area Sohio gasoline station managers and one attendant in an alleged credit-card swindle that netted them $4,935.

A large Sikorsky helicopter rented by a construction company en route from Pittsburgh to Cleveland crashes in a field in Hartford Township, Trumbull County, injuring the pilot and two passengers.

The Western Reserve Transit Authority extends evening bus service for the convenience of downtown holiday shoppers through Dec. 23.

1966: As a cold front rolls into the Youngstown district, weathermen predict a low of 15 degrees.

United Engineering and Foundry Co. is given a contract to build a twin-strand continuous casting machine for Etiwanda Steel Products Co. in California.

Mrs. Oscar Hendricks, director for Family Life Education for the Youngstown Board of Education, is honored by the National Council of Catholic Women at St. Nicholas Church.

1941: Principal Frank Tear of The Rayen School is a consultant on public-school teaching for the career conference at Oberlin College.

James Tobin, former Youngstowner who once flew airplanes here, is a member of the famous “Eagle Squadron” made up of Americans who are flying fighter planes in England.

Edgar Lynn, local flyer, flew to Columbus for a football game in less than two hours, while his brother, Lt. Raymond Lynn, flew from South Carolina to Selfridge Field, Mich., a distance of 600 miles in two hours, 30 minutes.