Today is Monday, July 7, the 188th day of 2003. There are 177 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, July 7, the 188th day of 2003. There are 177 days left in the year. On this date in 1865, four people are hanged in Washington for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Lincoln.
In 1896, the Democratic national convention opens in Chicago. In 1898, the United States annexes Hawaii. In 1930, construction begins on Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam). In 1949, the police drama "Dragnet," starring Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough, premieres on NBC radio. In 1954, Elvis Presley makes his radio debut as Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ plays his first recording for Sun Records, "That's All Right (Mama)." In 1958, President Eisenhower signs the Alaska statehood bill. In 1969, Canada's House of Commons gives final approval to a measure making the French language equal to English throughout the national government. In 1981, President Reagan announces he is nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
July 7, 1978: A lighted cigarette ignites natural gas from a leaking gas stove, blowing three walls of the two story duplex at 1512 Florencedale Ave. Timothy Paul Bucklew, 20, was hurled from a second floor kitchen to the front yard. He is in fair condition in an Akron hospital with burns over 60 percent of his body.
The Ohio Supreme Court will decide by November whether to permit the news media to use cameras and tape recorders in Ohio courtrooms.
Trumbull County Probate Judge Reed S. Battin led the state in 1977 in keeping his court docket up to date while other Trumbull Common Pleas Court judges were wrestling with 877 overdue cases, an Ohio Supreme Court report shows.
July 7, 1963: An eight-member border patrol is being organized by the Pennsylvania Liquor Board to wage war against Pennsylvania residents who buy their whisky in Ohio and bring it home. One of the places they'll be watching is a Ohio store in Brookfield Township, a few hundred feet from the state line.
A new 30,000 square foot plant at Galt, Ont., is put into operation by Wean-McKay of Canada, Ltd., to manufacture products designed by McKay Machine Co. of Youngstown and Wean Engineering Co. of Warren.
Miss Corrinne Ledger, a teacher at Stambaugh School for 39 years, retires and will begin teaching arts and crafts at Youngstown University.
July 7, 1953: A Cortland man is crushed to death when the second floor of his barn collapsed on him. Claude Hector, 56, died instantly. His wife, Dollie, was trapped in the wreckage for 21 hours, and is in fairly good condition in Trumbull Memorial Hospital.
The Youngstown planning commission asks city council to place a $4.1 million capital improvement program before the voters in November. About $2.5 million would be spent on street repairs with the remainder going toward parks, new fire stations, urban development and a central garage.
Former President Harry S. Truman, driving home to Independence, Mo., from New York, stays overnight in Columbus and meets with Gov. Frank Lausche. The ex-president and his wife stayed in a $43.50 suite at the Deshler Hilton Hotel.
July 7, 1928: Cupid is leading Youngstowners to the doors of the savings depository. Ninety percent of the 100,000 savers in Youngstown building and loan companies are married and 6 percent are engaged, a survey of the savers conducted by Don L. Tobin of the Ohio Building Association League shows.
The directors of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District say they will do everything in their power to prevail upon the A.J. Guthrie & amp; Co. to pay more than 30 cents an hour to common laborers working on the Meander dam.
Morris Marowitz, Warren police desk clerk, is suspended from duty without pay for 30 days as the result of an investigation into his wrecking a police car that he was driving on a private errand. The car, the fastest owned by the department, was especially equipped for chasing robbers.