YEARS AGO FOR APRIL 19

Today is Wednesday, April 19, the 109th day of 2017. There are 256 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1775: The American Revolutionary War begins with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

1897: The first Boston Marathon takes place; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.

1967: Kathrine Switzer becomes the first woman to run the Boston Marathon under an official number by registering without mentioning her gender; by her own estimate, she finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes.

1977: The Supreme Court, in Ingraham v. Wright, rules 5-4 that even severe spanking of schoolchildren by faculty members does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment.

1993: The 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents begin smashing their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, are killed.

1995: A truck bomb destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

2016: Front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sweep to resounding victories in New York’s primary.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. has opened a campaign for a seat on the important House Ways and Means Committee in the new Congress.

Educational experts predict that Emanuel N. Catsoules’ retirement after 14 years as superintendent of Youngstown city schools will launch a cycle of short-term superintendents, consistent with recent trends. The average tenure for superintendents is 21/2 years for urban districts.

Forty-four of the 52 golf courses in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys are increasing green fees for the coming year by an average of about a dollar. The area’s highest priced course, Avalon Lakes, is holding its fee at $35 with a cart for 18 holes on the weekend.

1977: A 17-year-old East Side youth is sentenced to 15 years to life in the stabbing death of Mustafas Abbas, co-owner of Brothers Market on Shehy Street during a November robbery.

A coalition of employee shareholders and unionists fail in their attempt to elect Francis Petrony to the board of directors of GF Business Equipment Inc.

Youngstown area business men and women take off in a chartered Allegheny Airlines flight for a day in Washington, D.C., meeting with executive and legislative branches of government in the Rayburn Office Building.

1967: The Kaiser Refractories Division plant in Columbiana has received the top safety award of the parent company, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., for passing 1966 without a lost-time accident.

The Citizens Committee for Progress in Education, originally formed to promote a Mahoning County community college, goes on record endorsing the 7.5-mill school operating levy, as it supports good education at all levels.

Elmer Duncan, giving his icebreaker speech, receives the best-speaker award at a meeting of the Youngstown Toastmaster’s Club at Raver’s Restaurant.

1942: People with war ration books can obtain a special allotment of five pounds of sugar a year for home canning.

The Semple Block, a downtown landmark for many years, is sold by Charles Semple, local real estate man, to E.F. Bowsley, owner of the Junedale Market, in one of the largest downtown real estate deals in some time.

Dr. H.E. Kerr, oral surgeon in Youngstown for many years, will report for duty as a lieutenant commander in the Navy.