YEARS AGO FOR NOV. 18

Today is Sunday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2018. There are 43 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1883: The United States and Canada adopt a system of Standard Time zones.

1916: The World War I Battle of Somme pitting British and French forces against German troops ends inconclusively after 41/2 months of bloodshed.

1928: Walt Disney’s first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, “Steamboat Willie” starring Mickey Mouse, premieres in New York.

1936: Germany and Italy recognize the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

1966: U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issue a Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence, which does away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.

1976: Spain’s parliament approves a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

1978: U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four others are killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings are followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.

VINDICATOR FILES

1993: The Lakeview Board of Education responds quickly to suggestions that the Warren Board of Education may seek consolidation with a neighboring district and passes a resolution opposing any consolidation.

Residents of the Oak Forest neighborhood in Niles petition city council to turn off security lighting at a water tower. The lights are unsightly and so bright that they disturb the sleep of adjacent neighbors. Mayor Ralph Infante says the wattage will be reduced, but the lights will stay on.

Mill Creek Park commissioners are considering alternatives to deal with Lake Newport, ranging from full dredging and refilling to turning most of the lake into a wetlands.

1978: The Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley is given a purchase price of $23 million for Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co’.s Brier Hill Works and the closed portions of the Campbell Works.

A Youngstown youth dies when his auto smashed into the side of a slow-moving freight train at the Highland Avenue crossing near the Lords-town General Motors plant. John Raiger, 19, was pronounced dead at Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

Thousands of children and adults line Federal Plaza as Santa Claus arrives in Youngstown, preceded by a parade of 50 units, including 10 high school bands.

1968: Popular country and western singer Bobby Steele, 48, of Calcutta, is killed in a two-car crash in Smiths Ferry Road, 2 miles east of Calcutta. He had been playing with the Harry Milhoan Combo at the Hi-Neighbor Tavern in Salem.

Vandals enter Coitsville School on Coitsville-Struthers Road, ransack the building, damage desks and attempt to start fires in several rooms.

The showing of “Heidi” pre-empted the last minute of an NFL game between New York and Oakland, bringing a deluge of calls to the NBC switchboard. In that last minute, Oakland scored two touchdowns and won, 43-32

1943: Five open hearth furnaces of Republic Steel Corp.’s big Youngstown plant are idle as demand for some steel products slows due to progress in the war.

The National Amateur Baseball Tournament held in Youngstown netted $888 for the athletic fund at Camp Reynolds, Pa. Mayor William Spagnola says the federal tax on the tournament was $1,076, considerably more than the net profit.

Mosquito Creek Dam gates may not be closed by Dec. 15 because many trees still stand in Greene and Mecca townships and only a few of the homes belonging to government have been emptied of occupants.