YEARS AGO

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 14, the 258th day of 2016. There are 108 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1715: Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon, credited with advances in the production of champagne, dies in Hautvillers, France, at age 76.

1814: Francis Scott Key is inspired to write the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry” after witnessing the American flag flying over the Maryland fort after a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; the poem later became the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

1861: The first naval engagement of the Civil War takes place as the USS Colorado attacks and sinks the Confederate private schooner Judah off Pensacola, Fla.

1901: President William McKinley of Niles dies in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeds him.

1982: Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, dies at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before.

2011: A government panel releases a report saying that BP bears ultimate responsibility for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

2015: Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Muslim boy, is arrested after bringing a homemade clock to MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, that was mistaken for a possible bomb.

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: Ohio’s rising cost of college education, which is $1,000 above the national average, is likely to further lower the state’s percentage of college-educated adults, says Elaine Hairston, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.

Boardman and Austintown townships continue their separate efforts to stymie the opening of adult video stores.

The $2 million renovation of the Holiday Inn MetroPlex on Belmont Avenue includes a billiards room, new restaurant and a comedy club.

1976: The U.S. Department of Commerce awards a scaled-down $1.7 million grant to the Western Reserve Economic Development Agency. The grant includes seed money to sustain communities during depressed economic periods.

Austintown Township trustees ask Mahoning County commissioners to establish a curfew for juveniles under age 18.

Maj. Joseph A. LeBlanc, chief deputy of the Portage County sheriff’s office, is killed when he is trapped in his burning patrol car after a head-on collision with a county-owned dump truck.

1966: Robert W. Hum and Mark Crook of Boy Scout Troop 18 in Columbiana receive Eagle Scout awards.

Employees of the Youngstown Hospital Association are voting on possible affiliation with the Building Service and Maintenance Union of the AFL-CIO.

Packard Electric Division of General Motors announces development of a new light-conducting wire called “SeeLite” that allows the transmission of light around corners and is described as “an exciting new development.”

The Vietnamese government issues two posthumous citations to Sgt. Alex Gutierrez, 25, of Youngstown, who was killed in action in November 1965.

1941: American Legion Post 15 in Youngstown will conduct a class to teach young Americans how to use a rifle. The sessions will take place at the armory and are open to youths age 14 to 19.

Gloria Virginia Harry, 19, of Youngstown will reign as apple queen at the Mahoning-Columbiana Apple Festival.

The final session of the Eastern Ohio Contract Bridge Tournament opens at the Hotel Pick-Ohio in Youngstown.