Today is Monday, Oct. 4, the 278th day of 2004. There are 88 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, Oct. 4, the 278th day of 2004. There are 88 days left in the year. On this date in 1957, the Space Age begins as the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, into orbit.
In 1777, George Washington's troops launch an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties. In 1822, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, is born in Delaware, Ohio. In 1895, the first U.S. Open golf tournament is held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. In 1931, the comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, makes its debut. In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini confer at Brenner Pass in the Alps, where the Nazi leader seeks Italy's help in fighting the British. In 1957, the television series "Leave It to Beaver" premieres on CBS. In 1958, the first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service is begun by British Overseas Airways Corp. with flights between London and New York. In 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, is found dead in her Hollywood hotel room. In 1976, agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigns in the wake of a controversy over a joke he'd made about blacks. In 1978, funeral services are held at the Vatican for Pope John Paul I.
October 4, 1979: The Youngstown Metropolitan Housing authority receives a $6.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to buy and renovate Hotel Ohio on West Boardman Street.
Beleaguered Cleveland Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich survives Cleveland's nonpartisan primary, but faces an uphill battle against Lt. Gov. George V. Voinovich in the Nov. 6 runoff.
The East Ohio Gas Co. files a request for a rate hike that would increase the average monthly bill of a residential customer by about $2.70 a month.
October 4, 1964: Youngstown Bishop Emmet M. Walsh dedicates the new $250,000 Franciscan friary, chapel and shrine of Mount Alverna Friary at 517 S. Belle Vista Ave. The friary is located on the former Ward Beecher estate and five priests and a brother of the Franciscan order live there.
"Photography from Five Years of Space," a National Aeronautics and Space Administration exhibit, opens at the Butler Institute of American Art.
R. Sargent Shriver, head of America's Peace Corps, calls for support of the Johnson administration's foreign and domestic policies, as he addresses 1,500 persons at a Democratic fund-raising dinner in the Idora Park Ballroom.
October 4, 1954: A capacity audience of 5,200 persons fill Stambaugh Auditorium at the first two of four shows being presented by the Youngstown Police Benefit Association, with Jan Murray, TV and radio star, as master of ceremonies.
A new Roman Catholic order of nuns, the Sisters of the Divine Spirit, which has temporary headquarters in Mount Pocono, Pa., will dress in civilian clothes -- gray skirts and jackets and small black hats -- rather than the traditional flowing robes and habits of other orders.
The Rev. Charles A. Albright, pastor of Mahoning Methodist Church, tells a church jammed with parishioners that the time for the police to crackdown on vandals and troublemakers is "right now."
October 4, 1929: Mahoning County Auditor John J. Arnold says Youngstown and Mahoning County schools will receive about $100,000 less from taxes in 1929 than had been anticipated in the budget. The shortage is almost entirely due to unpaid taxes, he adds.
WKBN Radio of Youngstown becomes a full-fledged member of the Columbia Broadcasting System, and will broadcast both daylight and night programs of the radio chain six days a week.