Today is Wednesday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2003. There are 133 days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2003. There are 133 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations begin invading Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization drive of Alexander Dubcek's regime.
In 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declares the Civil War over, months after the fighting had stopped. In 1914, German forces occupy Brussels, Belgium, during World War I. In 1918, Britain opens its offensive on the Western front during World War I. In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pays tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." In 1953, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledges it has tested a hydrogen bomb. In 1955, hundreds of people are killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signs a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure. In 1977, the U.S. launches Voyager II, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature. In 1979, swimmer Diana Nyad succeeds in her third attempt at swimming from the Bahamas to Florida.
August 20, 1978: When the Youngstown State University Penguins open their football season Sept. 9, the team will be cheered on by these cheerleaders: Ginny Eckert, Kim Carolyne, Karen Kennedy, Mary Jo Leonard, Jacky Green, Susan Bruce, Laraine Lellio, Barrie Lynn Wiltsie and Gayle Johnson.
Josephine Kyle's historical Log-hurst home at 3967 Boardman-Canfield Road has been given to the Western Reserve historical society for a museum and a generous endowment has been arranged to assure its operation. The 8-acre farmstead was established in 1803 when Indian trails traversed the wilds that are now Canfield.
The World Synod of Bishops is better suited for electing a new head of the Roman Catholic Church than the College of Cardinals, says Bishop James W. Malone of the Diocese of Youngstown. Malone notes that the Synod has 1,800 members, while there are only 111 cardinals.
August 20, 1963: Identical twins from Youngstown, Saul and Dr. Nathan Lerner, 26, will be on the faculty of Elmira College at Elmira, N.Y., when classes resume in the fall. Both received high honors when they graduated from Youngstown University in 1958. Saul will be a history instructor, Nathan will continue as an assistant professor of chemistry.
The Poland Local School District has asked the Mahoning County prosecutor's office to research whether it will be liable for a decrease in the quality of pelts on a mink farm adjacent to the site of the new Dobbins Elementary School. The owner of the mink farm, Stanley Young Jr., claims that the noise of construction and from children during recess after the school opens will affect his minks.
Counseling personnel in East, Rayen and South high schools begin interviewing potential dropouts under a $1,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Potential dropouts and their parents will be assisted in understanding the consequences of quitting school.
August 20, 1953: A top official of the G.M. McKelvey Co. tells Youngstown City Council that the department store will begin construction of a pigeon-hole parking garage by Sept. 1 if the city will sell the necessary land on W. Commerce St. near Hazel St.
A 48-year-old Cleveland St. man jumps to his death from the south end of the Market St. Bridge to the B & amp;O Railroad tracks. Police records show the man had attempted suicide from the bridge once before, but had landed in the Mahoning River and swam to shore.
Mayor Charles Henderson, appearing in the first of a series of "The Mayor Reports" broadcasts on WFMJ-TV, says Youngstown's proposed sewage disposal system is an important step in making Youngstown "a better place to live and a more attractive location for prospective new industries."
August 20, 1928: The Penn-Ohio Power & amp; Light Co. installs a Westinghouse Synchronous Visual Supervisory Control at its control room at Boardman and Champion streets that will immediately notify the operator if a circuit anywhere in the city goes out and allow the operator to locate the circuit and cut in other circuits so that power will be restored to customers within minutes.
Aviators flying to Youngstown need no longer strain their eyes looking for a cow pasture to land in. "Youngstown" has been spelled out in white, 10-foot-high concrete letters on the roof of the Home Savings and Loan building, along with a large arrow pointing toward Lansdowne Field. The sign will be visible to flyers as high as 10,000 feet on a clear day.
Young John Bowser has built a golf course of five holes in the back yard of his West Myrtle Ave. home where he and youthful neighborhood golfers (and a few adults) practice their skills.