YEARS AGO FOR DEC. 31

Today is Monday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2018.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1879: Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrates his electric incandescent light by illuminating 40 bulbs at his lab in Menlo Park, N.J.

1904: New York’s Times Square sees its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance.

1946: President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

2008: A man leaves four gift-wrapped bombs in Aspen, Colo., in a bank-robbery attempt, turning New Year’s Eve celebrations into a mass evacuation. (The man, identified as 72-year-old James Chester Blanning, shot and killed himself.)

2017: New Yorkers endure the second-coldest New Year’s Eve celebration on record; the temperature in the city was 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

VINDICATOR FILES

1993: In response to opposition to a prison project by residents, Lordstown Village Council withdraws from consideration two potential sites for a proposed state super-maximum security prison.

The United Steelworkers of America agrees for the second time to extend its contract with CSC Industries Inc., parent of Copperweld Steel Co., which continues to search for a buyer under bankruptcy protection.

Trumbull County Engineer James Fiorenzo pleads not guilty to three felonies including complicity to theft in office and forgery that could carry 10 years’ imprisonment. His lawyer, former Prosecutor J. Walter Dragelevich, says Fiorenzo was new to office and hadn’t received adequate help.

1978: Stained-glass thievery becomes big business in Youngstown with thousands of dollars’ worth of windows being taken from churches and private homes. Metropolitan Baptist Church in Youngstown was the latest target of thieves.

Henry J. McNicholas, president of the J.V. McNicholas Transfer Co., says the company will spend $10 million to $11 million in 1979 to upgrade and enlarge its truck fleet.

The Youngstown Hospital Association raises room rates $10, bringing the charge for a private room to $119 a day and semi-private to $108.50. The intensive-care rate will be $246 a day.

Lou Holtz, a former assistant coach at Ohio State University and head coach at Arkansas, is said to be the leading contender to replace the Buckeyes’ fired coach, Woody Hayes.

1968: Shareholders of United Engineering & Foundry Co. approve a merger with Wean-United Inc. The Wean United group makes a wide variety of machinery and equipment for basic steel, steel fabrication, automobile, plastics, rubber and other industries.

The body of Ralph “Abie” Gates, 62, is found in the rubble of the fire-ravaged Fountain Inn Hotel on Washington Street, New Castle, Pa. Another man, Eugene Wieszczak, 50, died of injuries suffered when he fell from the fourth floor while reaching for a fireman’s ladder.

Barry Smart of Austintown is in serious condition with head injuries suffered when his sled crashed into a tree on Oak Grove Hill in Mill Creek Park.

1943: Mayor Ralph O’Neill announces his cabinet: Atty. John W. Powers, law director; Atty. Forrest Cavalier, finance director; John B. Thomas, police chief; Clarence Thomas, fire chief; James C. Ryan, city engineer, and J. Joseph Smith, water commissioner.

Judge John W. Ford issues a temporary restraining order barring Dr. William E. Maine from taking the oath of office to succeed Health Commissioner Dr. R.G. Mossman. Dr. Mossman maintains he can only be removed from office by action of the civil service commission.

Paced by J. Faust, Raymond Charles and Chuck Hoffman, Canfield High cagers stage a brilliant second-half sharpshooting exhibition to gain a 33-29 win over Springfield Township.