YEARS AGO

Today is Sunday, May 8, the 129th day of 2016. There are 237 days left in the year. This is Mother’s Day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1541: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River.

1794: Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, is executed on the guillotine during France’s Reign of Terror.

1846: The first major battle of the Mexican-American War is fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor are able to beat back Mexican forces.

1884: The 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, is born in Lamar, Mo.

1886: Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton begins selling the original version of Coca-Cola, which he’d invented.

1915: Regret becomes the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

1921: Sweden’s Parliament votes to abolish the death penalty.

1945: President Harry S. Truman announces on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces have surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.” The day becomes known as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.

1984: The Soviet Union announces it will boycott the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

1996: South Africa takes another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guarantees equal rights for blacks and whites.

2006: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes to President George W. Bush, proposing “new solutions” to their differences in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years.

2011: Relations between Egypt’s Muslims and Christians reach a new low after overnight riots leave 12 people dead and a church burned.

Fox television announces that Paula Abdul will be one of the judges on “The X Factor,” reuniting her with former “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell.

2015: President Barack Obama visits Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., where he makes a pitch for a Trans-Pacific agreement that would open up commerce among the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries.

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey appoints Industry Secretary Harris Wofford, a former adviser to President John F. Kennedy, to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Republican John Heinz.

Warren Mayor Daniel Sferra appears to have defeated challenger Roger Hernon in the Democratic primary election, with a 53-vote margin in the election day count. About 120 absentee ballots remain to be counted.

Joseph Naples defeats incumbent councilwoman Darlene K. Rogers in the Democratic primary for Youngstown’s 3rd Ward seat. The outcome means city council will shift from a 4-3 majority of black councilmen to a 4-3 majority of white councilmen.

1976: Five Youngstown State University students are named Vindicator award recipients at the 17th annual honors convocation: Karen Adams, Deborah McCutchen, Linda Motosko, William E. Brown Jr. and Jan Wetherstein.

George A. Bowman, superintendent of Youngstown City Schools in the 1940s and retired president of Kent State University, dies at his home in Kent.

For the first time, a Pennsylvania university has broken the $7,000 barrier for the cost of tuition and room and board. Charges for a student going to the University of Pennsylvania in 1976-77 will be $7,050. The cost at Penn State University will be $3,441.

1966: The Ohio Highway Patrol’s newly formed tactical squad designed to increase enforcement in accident-frequency areas, begins operating in Mahoning County.

Gladys Velez, 13, an eighth-grade pupil at St. Patrick’s Oak Hill School, will go to Washington, D.C., to compete for the national title after winning The Vindicator’s 33rd annual spelling bee at South High School. Kathleen Appugliese from St Patrick’s Glenwood School, was the runner-up.

The 250-acre Western Reserve Industrial Park established in Austintown in 1959 has two prospective tenants and is likely to get 15 more in coming years.

1941: Suzanne Edward, a 20-year-old Youngstown College student in the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s civilian pilot training program, was practicing maneuvers when her plane drifted away with the wind. Running low on fuel, she landed in a big field and found herself in Greenville, Pa.

Joan Kohler, New Middletown spelling champion, shows Rotarians how to spell at their recent meeting. Joan spelled a difficult list while Rotarians tried to keep up with paper and pencil. She was the only one with 100 percent of the words spelled correctly.

Jessica Dragonette, radio and concert soprano, appears with the Youngstown Symphony at Stambaugh Auditorium.