Today is Saturday, June 5, the 157th day of 2004. On this date in 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is

Today is Saturday, June 5, the 157th day of 2004. On this date in 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated after claiming victory in California's Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is immediately arrested.
In 1783, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier publicly demonstrate their hot-air balloon in a ten-minute flight over Annonay, France. In 1794, Congress passes the Neutrality Act, which prohibits Americans from enlisting in the service of a foreign power. In 1917, about 10 million American men begin registering for the draft in World War I. In 1933, the United States goes off the gold standard. In 1940, the Battle of France begins during World War II. In 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall gives a speech at Harvard University in which he outlines an aid program for Europe that came to be known as "The Marshall Plan."
In 1967, war erupts in the Mideast as Israel raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq enter the conflict. In 1975, Egypt reopens the Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it is closed because of the 1967 war with Israel. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control reports that five homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS. In 1993, country star Conway Twitty dies in Springfield, Mo., at age 59. In 1994, President Clinton heads across the English Channel aboard the USS George Washington, en route to the 50th anniversary commemoration of D-Day in Normandy. In 1999, jazz and pop singer Mel Torme dies in Los Angeles at age 73. In 2003, speaking to U.S. soldiers in Qatar, President Bush argues the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is justified and pledges that "we'll reveal the truth" on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
June 5, 1979: Sharon Steel Corp. becomes the largest single shareholder of Cleveland-based Reliance Electric Co. and Sharon's parent, NVF Co., purchases a 5.6 percent interest in Huyck Corp., a paper-making concern, says Victor Posner, head of NVF and Sharon.
Two Youngstown-based companies -- Commercial Shearing Inc. and GF Business Equipment Inc. -- are included in Fortune magazine's Second 500 largest companies. Commercial led all the Second 500 companies in total return to investors between 1968 and 1978.
Gov. James A. Rhodes is expected to sign into a bill giving Ohio's senior and disabled citizens a further break on their property taxes. The measure expands the state's 1972 homestead property tax exemption.
June 5, 1964: H. Ross Packard, retired executive secretary of the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at South Side Hospital. Throughout his career he had been a strong advocate for a Lake Erie to Ohio River canal.
Boardman Township trustees table a zone change request that would clear the way for construction of a $17 million air-conditioned shopping mall on a 62-acre site opposite Boardman High School.
The Salem solicitor's office starts legal action to collect delinquent income taxes from 100 residents. In most cases, federal income tax returns will be subpoenaed to help the city prove its claim.
June 5, 1954: Dr. Howard W. Jones, president of Youngstown College, confers degrees on 377 graduates during the 32nd annual commencement ceremony at Stambaugh Auditorium. Some 2,600 people attend and Ohio Gov. Frank J. Lausche gives the address.
An unwed mother who feared disgrace abandoned her day-old baby girl on the damp floor of an East Side garage. "Please give or find her a good home," read an unsigned note left with the baby.
William A. Mason, former Youngstown municipal judge and a leading Mahoning Valley Republican, dies at his home on Neosho Road at the age of 68. He came to Youngstown from Detroit in 1908 as a newspaper man and went to Washington as secretary to Rep. John G. Cooper, where he served for 10 years.
June 5, 1929: Opponents of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District will carry their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Ohio Supreme Court rejects for a second time a claim that the law creating the water district was unconstitutional.
Property at Hillman Street and Midlothian Boulevard is sold for approximately $25,000. It will be the site of a new church to be erected by St. Andrew's Episcopal parish.
Dr. Haven Emerson, noted health authority, tells the Youngstown Rotary that because the city is unwilling to spend what it should for public health, Youngstown has a shortage of hospital beds.