Today is Tuesday, Aug. 24, the 237th day of 2004. There are 129 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 24, the 237th day of 2004. There are 129 days left in the year. On this date in 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashes into Florida, causing record damage; 55 deaths in Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas are blamed on the storm.
In A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash. In 1572, the slaughter of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics begin in Paris. In 1814, British forces invade Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol and the White House. 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 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 1970, a bomb planted by anti-war extremists explodes at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht. In 1981, Mark David Chapman is sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for slaying rock star John Lennon.
August 24, 1979: Bazetta Township officials say the township would pay for construction of a water line for the proposed K mart distribution center if the city would build the line and drop its demands to link water service to eventual annexation.
Sixty-seven candidates for school board positions in Mahoning County's 15 school districts file for places on the Nov. 6 ballot.
August 24, 1964: Just days from his 106th birthday, Jack Holston of 746 Liberty Ave., dies of infirmities in his home. The retired farmer was born in Alabama in 1858 and came to Youngstown in 1932.
Many Youngstown newspaper dealers report that stacks of their Cleveland Plain Dealer papers were stolen before they opened their stores on the first Sunday after a strike hit The Vindicator. Papers were reported being sold on the black market for 50 cents, twice their face value.
August 24, 1954: The Ohio Central Telephone Corp. says it will provide Lake Milton customers with their own exchange in an effort to improve service for customer who must now make calls through what they say is the "horse and buggy" Palmyra exchange.
The first remote telecast from Idora Park will be staged by WFMJ-TV from the Emergency Polio Benefit Ball in the park ballroom.
A bill to increase Social Security payments is on President Eisenhower's desk, and he is expected to sign it. The minimum payment for a single retiree will increase from $25 a month to $30 and the maximum will go from $85 to $98.50. Benefits for a worker and wife will go from $37.50 to $45 and from $127.60 to $147.80.
August 24, 1929: During its show at Central Auditorium, which features 20,000 "glads" on display, the Ohio Gladiolus Society re-elects Fred W. Green of Youngstown its president.
Judson Brenner, 67, about to begin his second term as treasurer of Mahoning County, dies of heart disease at his home in Poland.
Martial law is proclaimed in Jerusalem after clashes over rights to worship at the Wailing Wall result in 11 Jews and 18 Arabs being killed and more than 150 wounded on both sides.