YEARS AGO FOR SEPTEMBER 1

Today is Friday, Sept. 1, the 244th day of 2017. There are 121 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1914: The last passenger pigeon in captivity, “Martha,” dies at the Cincinnati Zoo.

1939: World War II begins as Nazi Germany invades Poland.

1945: Americans receive word of Japan’s formal surrender that ends World War II.

1969: A coup in Libya brings Moammar Gadhafi to power.

1976: U.S. Rep. Wayne L. Hays, D-Ohio, resigns in the wake of a scandal in which he admitted having an affair with “secretary” Elizabeth Ray.

1995: A ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

2007: Idaho Sen. Larry Craig announces his resignation, saying he would leave office Sept. 30 in the wake of fallout over his arrest and guilty plea in a Minnesota airport gay sex sting. (However, Craig later reversed his decision, saying he would serve out the rest of his term.)

2012: President Barack Obama ridicules the just-completed Republican National Convention as better-suited to an era of black-and-white TV and “trickle-down, you’re on your own” economics.”

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: Analysts say just-in-time inventory makes General Motors more efficient and cost effective, but also vulnerable to strikes such as that at the Lordstown fabricating plant, which shut down the adjacent production line in a day and the Saturn line in Tennessee in two days.

U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. expresses a concern that a long strike at the GM fabricating plant at Lordstown could jeopardize the future of the huge Trumbull County complex.

LTV Corp. sells its aerospace and defense businesses for $475 million, leaving the once-giant conglomerate that has been in bankruptcy since 1986 as mainly a steel producer.

1977: The Mahoning Valley will lead a coalition of 16 steel-producing communities in a nationwide effort to bail out the ailing steel industry.

Struthers Mayor Anthony S. Centofanti tells a crowd of about 100 protesting citizens at City Hall that a $311,000 federally funded swimming pool will be built in Mauthe Park as planned. Some citizens said the money should be spent for other projects, arguing that youth don’t need a pool.

Youngstown State University Geology Professor Ann Harris says a deep mine lies directly beneath the proposed site of a controversial 120-foot water tower in Liberty Township.

1967: The Vindicator’s Fred Childress arrives at Chu Lai and Cu Chi, Vietnam, on Operation GI and meets these Youngstown area soldiers: Capt. Edward D. DeHaas, Spec. 4 Ralph E. Kays, Master Sgt. William Jackson, Pfc. William Pavlenski, Spec. 4 Robert W. Barnes, Spec. 4 Donald Davis and Spec. 4. Clarence Dash.

High Point Sprinkler Co. of Ohio, recently incorporated to manufacture, construct and install sprinkler systems, is located at 220 Union St., Mineral Ridge.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. has acquired Van Huffel Tube Co. of Warren for a cash price that was not disclosed. Van Huffel business will be conducted by present management and personnel.

1942: U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan of Youngstown backs a bill that would abolish the poll tax in eight Southern states for any U.S. serviceman or servicewoman.

“Tin Can Day” is planned at Idora Park. Young and old can ride the rides or visit the concessions for three tin cans properly prepared.

Theater audiences throughout Mahoning County will pause for 4 minutes at 9 p.m. in a “Salute to Our Heroes.”