Today is Wednesday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2003. There are 182 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2003. There are 182 days left in the year. On this date in 1776, the Continental Congress passes a resolution saying that "these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States."
In 1881, President Garfield is shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Garfield dies the following September. In 1890, Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1926, the United States Army Air Corps is created. In 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator. In 1961, author Ernest Hemingway shoots himself to death at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. In 1963, President Kennedy meets Pope Paul VI at the Vatican, the first meeting between a Roman Catholic U.S. chief executive and the head of the Catholic Church. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signs into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress. In 1976, the Supreme Court rules the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual. In 1997, actor James Stewart dies in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 89. In 2001, Robert Tools receives the world's first self-contained artificial heart in Louisville, Kentucky. He lived 151 days with the device.
July 2, 1978: A plan designed to safeguard about 1,200 jobs and preserve Youngstown as a steel-making center would involve organizing a new company and building a 1-million-ton electric furnace and steel plant costing $105 to $125 million. Gov. James A. Rhodes has indicated the state could provide as much as $20 million from funds available for industrial development.
Howland's new superintendent of schools, 37-year-old James Hyre, is getting down to the business of rebuilding the school district following passage of an operating levy. The district received nationwide publicity after six straight levies were defeated at the polls, leaving a school district that was broke and a community that was polarized.
The Reynolds, Pa., Area School District is facing a taxpayer revolt, with at least 25 percent of the district's property owners expected to sign petition opposing an 11-mill property tax increase approved by the board.
July 2, 1963: Mahoning is one of 28 Ohio counties that will receive an increase from local government fund allocations, says state Auditor Roger Tracy. The county will receive $62,351 a month, about $1,300 more than was received each month the previous year.
Idora Park opens a new ride, the Gold Nugget, which is designed to capture the romance and adventure of the Old West. It's a twist on the traditional haunted house ride.
Capt. Edward R. Joshua, a Youngstown native and 24-year veteran of the Navy, is named commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Supply Depot at Yokosuka, Japan.
July 2, 1953: Failure of some district residents to keep appointments for the Red Cross blood bank causes the Red Cross bloodmobile to cancel one day of its scheduled three-day visit to Youngstown in July.
Washington D. Brandon, age 105, of Butler, Pa., oldest practicing attorney in the United States and Butler County's oldest resident, dies in Butler County Memorial Hospital. He had practiced law for 82 years.
The government collected more taxes in the last 12 months than any time in history, but still run up a deficit of $9.4 billion. The net income for fiscal 1953 was $63.2 billion; expenditures, $74.6 billion.
July 2, 1928: The Youngstown Board of Education invites the public to a hearing on the 1929 school budget, which will total approximately $3.9 million and which may require a levy on the November ballot of 1.4 mills.
Although the sale, possession or storage of fireworks in Youngstown is banned by ordinance, numerous stands have sprung up outside the city offering death-dealing firecrackers and other fireworks for sale. Chief Harry Callen says some hoodlums have thrown firecrackers into passing automobiles, which could result in tragedy if a woman's clothes were to be ignited.
Walter Postupak, 11, of Struthers, drowns in Lake Hamilton while fishing. His parents reported him missing, and a search of the lake was begun after two boys told police he had gone fishing.