Today is Wednesday, May 7, the 127th day of 2003. There are 238 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, May 7, the 127th day of 2003. There are 238 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, Germany signs an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France.
In 1789, the first inaugural ball is held in New York in honor of President and Mrs. George Washington. In 1812, poet Robert Browning is born in London. In 1847, the American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia. In 1915, nearly 1,200 people died when a German torpedo sinks the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast. In 1939, Germany and Italy announce a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. In 1941, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra record "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for RCA Victor. In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ends with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces. In 1975, President Ford formally declares an end to the "Vietnam era." In Ho Chi Minh City -- formerly Saigon -- the Viet Cong celebrates its takeover. In 1994, Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, is recovered almost three months after it was stolen from an Oslo museum.
May 7, 1978: Economists associated with Chase Manhattan Bank have determined that the Mahoning Valley's employment outlook has nowhere to go but up. Ironically, Chase's finding is hidden in an appraisal that Greater Youngstown's employment prospects are among the 10 worst in the country.
The Trumbull County Mental Health Center Inc. must find a new site for its day hospital for the mentally ill, which is housed in a building at 264 Mahoning Ave. N.W. First Presbyterian Church, which owns the building, has another use for the land.
Mary Ann Watson, a Canfield Middle School eighth grader, wins The Vindicator Spelling Bee after a 15-word duel at South High Fieldhouse with Sherryl Sutton of Holy Trinity School, Struthers.
May 7, 1963: Second Lt. Richard P. Meader, 25, son of Dr. and Mrs. Robert P. Meader of Canfield, and a student pilot at Webb Air Force Base, Big Spring, Texas, is killed when his T37 jet trainer crashes near the base. Lt. Webb had made his first solo jet flight three weeks earlier.
Vandals cause about $650 damage to two paintings that are part of the permanent collection at Butler Institute of American Art. Scratches made with a knife or a pin are found in "John Elliot Preaching to the Indians" by Thomkins Harrison Mattson and "Ship Francis Jacobson" by Clement Drew. Caretaker Edward Perkins says he will be able to restore the paintings.
Youngstown Cardiologist Dr. Leonard P. Caccamo tells a meeting of the Eastern Ohio Pharmaceutical Association that computers have entered the field of diagnosis for heart disease, allowing doctors to read larger numbers of cardiograms and to standardize records.
May 7, 1953: The Youngstown planning commission postpones making a recommendation to city council on the proposed rezoning of a Victor Avenue site for the proposed Kimmelbrook Homes project.
Ohio Edison officials say contact between a new wire that was being strung and an existing line that carried 4,800 volts resulted in the death of three linemen at Prindle-Booth and Niles-Logan roads. Killed were D. J. Vogelsan, 41; Albert Taylor, 27, and William J. Smith, 26. Hospitalized with burns are Charles McAtee, 40, and Ernest Sferra, 31.
The Ford Motor Co. unveils a hardtop convertible with a steel top that slides into the luggage compartment. The Ford "roof-o-matic" is displayed on a scale-model futuristic car during the company's 50th anniversary celebration in Detroit.
May 7, 1928: The Rev. Dubois LeFevre, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Youngstown, declares that "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder is, "notable as much by its spiritual truths as its artistic finish ... and is a book which cultured Americans may feel justly proud of."
Trumbull County Prosecutor Lynn B. Griffith speaks just nine words at the opening of jury selection for the bribery trial of James Munsene before defense lawyer Clarence Darrow rises with an objection that causes the prospective jurors to be dismissed. The words: "Would the fact that this defendant was twice convict..." Darrow didn't let Griffith finish the last word and argued successfully that the question was prejudicial. Jury selection was postponed a day.