YEARS AGO FOR MAY 18

Today is Saturday, May 18, the 138th day of 2019. There are 227 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATEDE PRESS

On this date in:

1642: The Canadian city of Montreal was founded by French colonists.

1652: Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to pass a law abolishing African slavery.

1765: One-quarter of Montreal is destroyed by a fire.

1863: The Siege of Vicksburg begins during the Civil War. It would end July 4 with a Union victory.

1920: Pope John Paul II is born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.

1944: During World War II, Allied forces occupy Monte Cassino in Italy after a four-month struggle with Axis troops.

1973: Harvard law professor Archibald Cox was appointed Watergate special prosecutor by U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson.

1980: Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state explodes, leaving 57 people dead or missing.

2009: President Barack Obama urges Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu during a White House meeting to stop Jewish settlements and grasp a “historic opportunity” to make peace with the Palestinians.

2018:A 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opens fire at a Houston-area high school, killing eight students and two teachers.

VINDICATOR FILES

1994: Struthers City Council says Youngstown has one last chance to make a commitment to solve flooding that is originating in Brownlee Woods and is affecting Struthers.

Salem City Council votes to eliminate the city health department and contract for health services through Columbiana County.

Two bills introduced by U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. get committee approval. One would allocate two full scholarships in mathematics, science and engineering for each congressional district, and the other would mandate construction of a $5 million National Academy Headquarters in Youngstown.

1979: President Jimmy Carter names Atty. Nathaniel Jones, a former Youngstown athlete, lawyer and chief national counsel for the NAACP, to serve on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Dr. Herb F. Reinhard Jr., assistant to the president of Florida A&M University, is named president of Slippery Rock State College effective July 1.

Ronald A. Marian, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board, says the board is reluctant to take over responsibility for Woodside Receiving Hospital.

1969: Patrick Lally, a junior at Cardinal Mooney High School, ties for first place in the state on the American history section of the Ohio scholastic achievement tests; Richard Graham of Champion is first in biology; Nancy Young and Debra Muehleisen of Howland are first in Spanish I and II.

Michael Wargo says storm damage at Presque Isle State Park, the popular beach resort on Lake Erie, is heartbreaking. The worst storm in the area’s history tore up the park in a 6-mile area.

Former Girard Mayor Joseph Caton has been named the city’s Catholic Man of the Year by the Girard Knights of Columbus Council 2935. He will compete for honors as Ohio’s Catholic Man of the Year at the Knights of Columbus state convention.

1944: Cpl. John Walihnac’s Christmas package has been tagging along after him since October. It finally caught up with him at home on furlough after traveling through New Guinea, Australia, San Francisco, Texas and back to Youngstown.

Councilman Myron Price, chairman of city council’s special investigating committee, plans to introduce legislation soon to license and regulate bingo or keno games.

Chaney High’s baseball team wins its 11th game in 12 starts, defeating Scienceville High, 3-1, at Borts Field.