Today in history

Today is Saturday, May 4, the 124th day of 2013. There are 241 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1776: Rhode Island declares its freedom from England, two months before the Declaration of Independence is adopted.

1862: After a monthlong siege, Union forces prepare to unleash a massive bombardment against Confederate troops at Yorktown, Va., only to discover the Confederates had slipped away during the night.

1886: At Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an 8-hour work day turns into a deadly riot when a bomb explodes.

1904: The United States takes over construction of the Panama Canal.

1932: Mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, enters the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. (Capone is later transferred to Alcatraz Island.)

1942: The Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval clash fought entirely with carrier aircraft, begins in the Pacific during World War II.

1959: The first Grammy Awards ceremony is held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Domenico Modugno wins Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”; Henry Mancini wins Album of the Year for “The Music from Peter Gunn.”

1961: The first group of “Freedom Riders” leaves Washington, D.C., to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

1970: Ohio National Guardsmen open fire during an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.

VINDICATOR FILES

1988: Democrats in Ohio’s 17th District give Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis a strong vote of confidence in the Democratic presidential primary, but U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. gets enough votes to qualify for one delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. That delegate will be Don L. Hanni Jr.

Mahoning County residents vote 42,192 to 36,998 to make Mill Creek a countywide park system, 97 years after the city of Youngstown had taken on the burden of financing the park. The new levy will be 1.9 mills.

Challengers George M. McKelvey and William P. Fergus unseat incumbent Treasurer Michael Pope and Engineer Michael Fitas, respectively.

1973: Edward Mars Barr of 4310 Howard St., Youngstown, manager of Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Co. in the city for 35 years, leaves an estate appraised at $2.8 million, the bulk of which, $2.2 million, was in 5,182 shares of International Business Machines stock.

Six trained appraisers fan out over Mahoning County to begin the massive reappraisal of the county’s 161,000 parcels.

1963: The Youngstown Metropolitan Area Development Citizens Committee says it will not investigate Mayor Harry Savasten’s firing of Haluk H. Tarhan as city planning director.

The Rev. Hunsdon Cary Jr., chairman of the welfare study committee for the Health and Welfare Council, describes Mahoning County’s relief situation as a “nightmare” which will defy local corrective action.

1938: The execution of Cincinnati poisoning murderess Anna Marie Hahn is stayed by the Ohio Supreme Court until the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on her conviction and death penalty for the poisoning of elderly gardener Jacob Wagner.

U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan announces that construction will begin in the summer on a $700,000 post office and federal building in Campbell.