YEARS AGO FOR AUGUST 27

Today is Sunday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2017. There are 126 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1776: The Battle of Long Island begins during the Revolutionary War as British troops attack American forces who end up being forced to retreat two days later.

1883: The island volcano Krakatoa erupts with a series of cataclysmic explosions; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claim some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

1892: Fire seriously damages New York’s original Metropolitan Opera House.

1908: Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, is born near Stonewall, Texas.

1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

1939: The first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, goes on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.

1949: A violent white mob prevents an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, N.Y.

1957: The USS Swordfish, the second Skate Class nuclear submarine, is launched from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

1962: The United States launches the Mariner 2 space probe.

1967: Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, is found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

1979: British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, are killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

1989: The first U.S. commercial satellite rocket is launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. – a Delta booster carrying a British communications satellite, the Marcopolo 1.

2007: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation after a controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick apologizes for “using bad judgment and making bad decisions” and vows to redeem himself after pleading guilty in Richmond, Va., to a federal dogfighting charge.

2008: Barack Obama is nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

2012: Republicans open their national convention in Tampa, Fla., a day late, then immediately recess as Tropical Storm Isaac surges toward New Orleans.

2016: Republican Donald Trump warns of a “war on the American farmer,” telling a crowd in Iowa that rival Hillary Clinton wants “to shut down family farms” and implement anti-agriculture policies.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: While a preservation group lobbies to reopen Idora Park Ballroom, the price tag for renovation of the Youngstown landmark has been pegged at nearly $800,000.

Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher says he may appeal an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s ethnic intimidation law that provides increased penalties for crimes motivated by race, color, religion or national origin.

Gateways to Better Living says it is considering closing its Austintown home for the mentally retarded because it may be too large to provide proper care.

1977: State Sen. Harry Meshel tells 534 graduates during Youngstown State University’s 55th summer commencement exercise at Beeghly Center that public service offers the opportunity and challenge to fulfill a high human mission.

Bishop Sava Yokovich of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America will be the celebrant for a Rite of Consecration of the Circle of Serbian Sisters on its 50th anniversary at Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church.

Dr. Harry E. Elston Sr., an osteopathic physician and surgeon who is the oldest physician in Niles, is retiring after 53 years in practice. He was the first physician in Niles to administer the Salk polio vaccine and the last physician to do house calls.

1967: On a visit to the U.S. Navy hospital ship, The Vindicator’s Fred Childress meets Lt. Cmdr. Patricia Ann Sowash, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Sowash of Jamestown, Pa.; and Hospital Corpsman William Bolash of Struthers, among other area natives.

The Youngstown district, awaiting the shiny new cars rolling of auto production lines, is going to pay more for the 1968 models. And the supply of good used cars is short so prices on them are higher.

David Gatehouse of Wayne County, who was Mahoning County extension agent when the job was established in 1915, is named to the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame.

1942: Niles Mayor William P. Kearney is elected vice chairman of the Trumbull Democratic central committee.

In the interest of the War Savings Campaign, the biggest names in the entertainment world, including 17 “name” bands, will be included in a seven-hour Blue Network show to be heard over WFMJ.

A tin-can part is arranged at Idora Park, where a ride ticket will be issued for every three cans brought in.