YEARS AGO FOR APRIL 8

Today is Saturday, April 8, the 98th day of 2017. There are 267 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1864: The United States Senate passes, 38-6, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery. (The House of Representatives passed it in January 1865; the amendment was ratified and adopted in December 1865.)

1904: Longacre Square in Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.

1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which provided money for programs such as the Works Progress Administration.

1952: President Harry S. Truman seizes the American steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, operated by the Ohio Historical Society, opens its permanent exhibition at 151 W. Wood St., coinciding with the 40th anniversary of President Harry J. Truman’s takeover of the U.S. steel industry during the Korean War.

Youngstown’s proposed “boom box” ordinance would provide fines starting at $100 and increasing to $600 or jail time for repeat offenders who play their music loud enough to disturb other residents.

A committee of the Mahoning Valley Preservation Club wants to find a way of preserving the Idora Park Ballroom before vandals or the wrecking ball claims one of the city’s most noted landmarks. Bob Joshua says the ballroom floor is still sturdy enough “to drive tanks on.” (A fire destroyed the ballroom in 2001.)

1977: About 500 Niles residents delinquent in payment of their electric bills receive a one-week reprieve before their power is turned off.

An independent natural gas producer tells a group of about 100 Mahoning Valley industrialists and property owners that any school, governmental unit, small industry or large manufacturer can drill for its own supply of natural gas, avoiding any layoffs that would come with rationing by East Ohio Gas. Co.

Trumbull County sheriff’s deputies elect Joseph Consiglio to head a new union in the department that will be affiliated with the NAACP.

1967: Civil rights are still America’s No. 1 concern and must not be shoved aside by the Vietnam War, Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP, tells more than 800 people at he Mahoning Country Club.

Annexation of 157 acres of Howland Township to Niles is approved by Trumbull County commissioners, and legislation authorizing water service to the area is expected soon. William Cafaro is planning a shopping complex at the site.

Incorporation papers are filed in Columbus for the Youngstown College of Business and Professional Drafting Inc. Atty. George Alexander, incorporation agent, reports the school will be in operation by summer.

1942: The South High Band helps give boys from the 6th Ward a rousing send-off before they leave in four buses for Cleveland. Men are given candy, cigarettes and gum by the newly formed Send-Off Committee.

Jane Randolph, now on her way to stardom in Hollywood, is a former Youngstown girl, daughter of George Roemer and the former Cora Thoman of Struthers.

Four civic leaders are named associate chairmen of the Community and War Chest Committee by William F. Maag, chairman: Atty. C.G. Economus, Judge C.M. Woodside, C.R. Rayburn and Walter Watson.