TODAY IS TUESDAY, JUNE 15, THE 167TH DAY OF 2004. THERE ARE 199 DAYS LEFT IN THE YEAR. ON THIS DATE IN 1904, MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE DIE WHEN FIRE ERUPTED ABOARD THE STEAMBOAT GENERAL SLOCUM IN NEW

Today is Tuesday, June 15, the 167th day of 2004. There are 199 days left in the year. On this date in 1904, more than 1,000 people die when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York's East River.
In 1215, England's King John puts his seal to the Magna Carta ("the Great Charter") at Runnymede. In 1520, Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther if he did not recant his religious beliefs. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress votes unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army. In 1836, Arkansas becomes the 25th state. In 1844, Charles Goodyear receives a patent for his process to strengthen rubber. In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signs an order establishing a military burial ground, which became Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1944, American forces begin their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. In 1978, King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor. In 1993, former Texas Gov. John Connally, who was wounded in the gunfire that killed President Kennedy, dies at age 76. In 1994, Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations. In 1999, thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees flood back into Kosovo while thousands of Serbs flee. In 2003, with a deadline passed for Iraqis to hand in heavy weapons, U.S. forces fan out across Iraq to seize arms and put down potential foes.
June 15, 1979: The ever-tightening gasoline situation brings an estimate that up to 70 percent of the service stations in northeastern Ohio and 81 percent of those in Pennsylvania are likely to close for all or part of Sundays.
A new move to promote business and industry in Columbiana County is put in motion by several county civic leaders. A group of 15 people meet with Walter J. Hunston Sr., a Salem resident and development specialist for the Ohio Department of Economic and Community Development.
A Youngstown police chase of a Girard Fire Department ambulance stolen from Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital ends with the arrest of the driver, and damage to four Youngstown police cruisers and a parked car. Two patrolmen were admitted to South Side Hospital and two were treated for injuries suffered during a variety of crashes during the chase that covered much of the South and East sides of the city.
June 15, 1964: Five Youngstown area youths gain top positions in the election of a mock state government at Buckeye Boys State at Ohio University in Athens. Kenneth Moore of Youngstown is secretary of state; Louis Schwartz of Warren, lieutenant governor; Geoffrey Utterback of Alliance, attorney general; William Liber of Alliance, auditor; Tom Moore of Warren, state supreme court justice.
Swimmers flock to Youngstown's six swimming pools on their opening day as temperatures approach 90 degrees for the second day in a row. The opening of Roosevelt Pool in Campbell is delayed indefinitely after a malfunction pumps thousands of gallons of rusty and muddy water into the pool.
Dr. Sidney Franklin, Youngstown health commissioner, is elected commander of the Ohio Jewish War Veterans during the group's convention in Columbus.
June 15, 1954: If the make-believe atomic bomb "dropped" on Youngstown as part of a nationwide civil defense exercise had been real, 60,200 people would have died, many because they became spectators and curiosity seekers instead of evacuating the streets into shelter areas.
An explosion wrecks a titanium furnace at the Metal Carbides Inc. plant on Indianola Avenue in Youngstown, the second in Mahoning Valley titanium plants in a week. There were no injuries in the latest explosion.
Seven Youngstown men, many of them notorious rackets figures allegedly connected with the dreaded Mafia or Black Hand, are given an ultimatum by Vice Squad Chief George Krispli after their arrests: "Get legitimate jobs or face constant police harassment."
June 15, 1929: The Rev. Maston Rhodes, former pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church is found guilty of murder in the death of Otto Campbell, a member of the church, and sentenced by Mahoning Judge David G. Jenkins to the death penalty.
Eleven people are fined for allowing their dogs to run loose, in violation of a canine quarantine issued by Mahoning County Health Officer J.F. Elder.
E.V. Potts of 232 Lincoln Ave. saves himself from injury if not death by his own quick action of jumping into Lake Milton after his clothing caught fire from a gasoline lamp in his fishing boat in the middle of the lake.

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