Today is Saturday, July 3, the 185th day of 2004. There are 181 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, July 3, the 185th day of 2004. There are 181 days left in the year. On this date in 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat.
In 1608, the city of Quebec is founded by Samuel de Champlain. In 1775, Gen. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass. In 1890, Idaho becomes the 43rd state of the Union. In 1898, the U.S. Navy defeats a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. In 1930, Congress creates the U.S. Veterans Administration. In 1962, Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule. In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27. In 1986, President Reagan presides over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that sees the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty. In 1987, British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand become the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, jumping into the sea as their craft goes down off the Scottish coast. In 1988, the USS Vincennes shoots down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
July 3, 1979: Harry Benetis, Newton Falls superintendent since 1971, resigns, saying it is impossible to get along with the school board.
Wage negotiations between Youngstown City Hall and four unions representing nonuniformed city employees deadlock, and union officials call a membership meeting to discuss their options.
Hubbard's annual Homecoming, scheduled for July 18-21, will be held on schedule following dismissal of a suit seeking an injunction against the event filed by the Hubbard Homecoming Association and the Hubbard Board of Education.
July 3, 1964: Youngstown's income tax survey crews move into a section of the Seventh Ward in the program to update tax payment records. The 10 survey men have already visited more than 5,000 homes in the Fifth and Sixth wards
U.S. Rep Michael J. Kirwan of Youngstown is honored by the Oklahoma congressional delegations for his efforts on behalf of water development in the Sooner state.
The Youngstown Civil Service Commission orders a newly appointed Youngstown patrolman to attend its Aug. 13 meeting to discuss the question of his legal residency.
July 3, 1954: John G. Pew, who was born on a Mercer County, Pa., farm and went on to become a millionaire industrialist and oil man, dies at his home near Philadelphia at the age of 83.
Westinghouse Electric Corp. announces plans for a multimillion-dollar improvement at its Sharon plant, which will include a modern soundproof laboratory to test transformers built in Sharon.
The grand opening of the Marine Athletic Club, Trumbull County's newest gambling joint, in old Route 62, northeast of Hubbard, is marred by a raid by five state liquor enforcement agents.
July 3, 1929: The 2-week-old baby girl found on the steps of the Elks Club has been adopted, according to Mrs. Mae Neely Murphy of the Anna Marie Home. Mrs. Murphy is seeking homes for six or seven other children.
Congressman Oscar De Priest of Illinois likens Mayor T. Roy Gord of Campbell to Chicago's mayor, William Hale Thompson, as a "friend of the black man" and urges his re-election. De Priest spoke before 500 members of the Community Welfare League in Rumanian Hall.
The day dawns in Youngstown as the coldest July 3 in history, with the mercury dipping to 52 degrees at 5:30 a.m.