YEARS AGO FOR FEB. 24

Today is Sunday, Feb. 24, the 55th day of 2019. There are 310 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1582: Pope Gregory XIII issues an edict outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)

1761: Boston lawyer James Otis Jr. goes to court to argue against “writs of assistance” that allow British customs officers to arbitrarily search people’s premises, declaring: “A man’s house is his castle.” (Although Otis lost the case, his statement provided early inspiration for American independence.)

1868: The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Andrew Johnson by a vote of 126-47 after his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson would later be acquitted by the Senate.

1920: The German Workers Party, which later would become the Nazi Party, meets in Munich to adopt its platform.

1942: The SS Struma, a charter ship attempting to carry nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Romania to British-mandated Palestine, is torpedoed by a Soviet submarine; all but one of the refugees perish.

1955: The Cole Porter musical “Silk Stockings” opens at the Imperial Theater on Broadway.

1988: In a ruling that expands legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court unanimously overturns a $150,000 award that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and publisher Larry Flynt.

1994: Entertainer Dinah Shore dies in Beverly Hills, Calif., five days before turning 78.

1996: Cuba downs two small American planes operated by the group Brothers to the Rescue that it claims were violating Cuban airspace; all four pilots are killed.

2008: Cuba’s parliament appoints Raul Castro president, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother, Fidel.

VINDICATOR FILES

1994: Youngstown City Councilwoman Anna Marie Nemeth will introduce legislation that would ban all assault weapons in the city.

Theresa Trucksis, director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, asks City Council for a $100,000 grant to help with the $2.8 million expansion of the main library.

Warren Police Chief Thomas Hutson and Fire Chief Kent Fusselman urge city council to place an income-tax issue on the ballot so that both departments can hire additional personnel.

1979: The 9,300 autoworkers at the General Motors Lordstown complex are among 820,000 members of the United Auto Workers union who will receive a 13-cent-per-hour cost-of-living pay increase.

U.S. Rep. Lyle Williams, R-19th, tells about 50 businessmen at a breakfast in Boardman that he will be able to provide assistance as a member of Congress’ Small Business Committee.

Skyline Airlines institutes commuter service between Youngstown Municipal Airport and other major air facilities, using dual-engine Cessna 404s that will carry up to nine passengers.

1969: The second fire in three months heavily damages the Italian Restaurant in the 65-year-old Gallagher Building on North Hazel Street in downtown Youngstown.

More than 600 workers at four aluminum extrusion companies end their strike and return to work.

The faltering 97-year-old Salem Mullins Manufacturing Co. won’t close its doors. It is bought by Harry Hirsch of Canfield, preserving 650 jobs.

Pfc. Michael Stocker of Youngstown is killed in action in Vietnam while serving with the 3rd Division 9th Battalion of U.S. Marines near Laos.

1944: Strikes and manpower shortages cut coal production in the five-county Sharon, Pa., district by 682,507 tons in 1943 compared with a year before. There were 3,223 men working in Mercer, Lawrence, Butler, Beaver and Venango counties, producing 4.5 million tons of coal.

County investigator John Callan, 52 W. LaClede Ave., is killed instantly when a county automobile he was driving skidded and wrapped itself around a utility pole at Market Street and Wayne Avenue.

Second Lt. Frank Zitkovic, New Springfield, is missing in action since an air raid over Germany on Feb. 4. He had been overseas since November 1943.