Today is Sunday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2003. There are 129 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Sunday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2003. There are 129 days left in the year. On this date in 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly non-stop across the United States, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in just over 19 hours.
In A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash. An estimated 20,000 people die. In A.D. 410, Rome is overrun by the Visigoths, an event that symbolizes the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In 1572, the slaughter of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics begins in Paris. In 1814, British forces invade Washington D.C., setting fire to the Capitol and the White House. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty goes into effect. In 1954, the Communist Control Act goes into effect, virtually outlawing the Communist Party in the United States. In 1968, France becomes the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it explodes a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific. In 1981, Mark David Chapman is sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for slaying rock star John Lennon. In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti bans Pete Rose from the game for gambling. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashes into Florida, causing record damage; 55 deaths in Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas are blamed on the storm.
August 24, 1978: City officials, angered by Conrail's failure to repair malfunctioning railroad gates in downtown Sharon, park a police cruiser across the tracks at State and Railroad streets for more than an hour.
Former heavyweight boxing title contender Ernie Shavers of Leavittsburg blames his failure to win the world heavyweight boxing title on his manager and files a $5 million lawsuit in federal court against Joseph "Blackie" Gennaro.
Leaders of the Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley and Mayor J. Phillip Richley are interviewed by NBC-TV for a news special that will be telecast in conjunction the election of a new pope. ,The segment will examine various aspects of ecumenism in the United States.
August 24, 1963: Prompted by recent stories of buried treasure unearthed in Troy, Ohio, an Alliance minister and his wife, The Rev. and Mrs. Owen Glassburn, search their Salem property and find gold coins with a face value of $655. The coins, dating to 1850, were buried on the site of an old shed, in a rusty metal box, and are likely worth four times their face value.
Sales in Youngstown area stores in the four weeks ended Aug. 17 show an increase of 13 percent over the same period a year earlier, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
In a hit at those companies that have pulled up stakes in Youngstown and moved elsewhere in search of lower wage scales, Henry S. Moyer, president of the Moyer Co., says Youngstown is an excellent location for a non-steel manufacturing company.
August 24, 1953: With September just around the corner, Youngstown district farms, gardens and lawns have been parched to almost rock-like hardness as the area is experiencing one of the driest Augusts in recent years.
The 1953 outbreak of Polio in Youngstown reaches 14, one more than in 1952, D. Roy Mellon, acting health commissioner, reports.
Major Wayne H. Burdue, an Army chaplain and pastor of First Christian Church of Newton Falls from 1938 to 1940, died in a POW camp in North Korea in July 1951, his wife, who now lives in Tacoma , Wash., is told.
August 24, 1928: Herbert Hoover, Republican nominee for the presidency, makes a five-minute train stop at Alliance, where he is greeted by a crowd of 500.
Chuck Hostetler, the fleet centerfielder for the Akron General Tire team, is signed by the Boston Braves. Hostetler, a Ravenna lad, had banged out three hits against Youngstown in a recent game.
Mayor Joseph L. Heffernan threatens to suspend any member of the police force who violates the code of the department by sweating at a private citizen or a prisoner, following charges by Councilman Gus A. Doeright that police are discourteous.
Reacting to the annexation of nearly one half of Coitsville Township, Youngstown City Council orders the city law department to prepare new boundary lines, including creation of an additional ward.