Today is Wednesday, Aug. 6, the 218th day of 2003. There are 147 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 6, the 218th day of 2003. There are 147 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, the United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.
In 1787, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia begins to debate the articles contained in a draft of the United States Constitution. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire goes out of existence as Emperor Francis I abdicates. In 1825, Bolivia declares its independence from Peru. In 1890, convicted murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed in the electric chair. He is put to death at Auburn State Prison in New York. In 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war against Russia and Serbia declares war against Germany. In 1926, Gertrude Ederle of New York becomes the first American woman to swim the English Channel, in about 141/2 hours. In 1962, Jamaica becomes an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth. In 1965, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act. In 1978, 25 years ago, Pope Paul VI dies at Castel Gandolfo at age 80. In 1986, William J. Schroeder dies after living 620 days with the Jarvik Seven artificial heart.
August 6, 1978: The S.S. Kresge Co. is considering Trumbull County as the site for a major distribution center for its Kmart discount department store chain. A prime candidate is a 1,000-acre site in Bazetta Township near the Route 5 bypass.
Government records show that Lykes Corp., the parent company of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., has received nearly $600 million in subsidies from the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Youngstown Mayor J. Phillip Richley has all but abandoned any immediate effort to force City Council to accept his finance director nominee, Dominic Conti, to replace John Benninger.
August 6, 1963: Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 64, marries Joan Martin, a 23-year-old government worker, in a church ceremony in Buffalo, N.Y. Douglas met his new wife when she was a coed at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.
Maurice W. Clairmont, chairman of Lee Rubber & amp; Tire Co., denies as "absolutely and 100 percent untrue" rumors that he is trying to sell the strikebound Republic Rubber Division plant in Youngstown to an Akron rubber firm.
Ohio Secretary of State Ted W. Brown says he sees no violation of the election law if Youngstown Council President Anthony B. Flask withdraws as a candidate for re-election and is chosen as the Democratic candidate for mayor. Richard J. Barrett, the party's nominee, has dropped out of the race due to illness.
August 6, 1953: Walter Lee Kauffman, 92, dean of Youngstown industrial credit men who was with Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. for 27 years, dies in North Side Hospital. He had fallen on the front steps of his home at 748 Bryson St. a few days earlier.
Sgt. Jennings R. Channell, 22, of Girard is the first district prisoner of the Korean War to be released by the Communists.
More than 17,000 people crowd the Trumbull County fairgrounds despite poor weather to attend the 108th annual Trumbull County free fair. Peter Hanley of Howland wins the grand champion steer award for the second consecutive year.
August 6, 1928: The Erie Railroad refuses Youngstown's demand that it pay union wages on construction to eliminate the grade crossing on Watt Street. Representatives of 17 craft unions met with Mayor Joseph Heffernan to complain that outside contractors were getting work on the railroad project and would be substandard wages.
Three men, an aged woman and two children are killed in grade crossing tragedies near Youngstown. Three Salem men died when their coupe was struck by a train on Salem-Damascus Road, two miles West of Salem, and a woman and two girls from Mogadore were killed in an accident near Ravenna.
The Youngstown Youngster, the first of a number of light monoplanes to be built by the Ohio Aero Manufacturing Co. in Youngstown, gets its first test flight. The little silver two-seater surprised its builders with its excellent performance. With standard equipment, the selling price will be $2,875.