Today is Saturday, April 9, the 99th day of 2005. There are 266 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, April 9, the 99th day of 2005. There are 266 days left in the year. On this date in 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
In 1939, singer Marian Anderson performs a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she is denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1940, during World War II, Germany invades Denmark and Norway. In 1942, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulate to Japanese forces; the surrender is followed by the notorious "Bataan Death March" which claims nearly 10,000 lives. In 1947, a series of tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas claim 169 lives. In 1959, NASA announces the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton. In 1963, British statesman Winston Churchill is made an honorary U.S. citizen. In 1965, the newly built Houston Astrodome features its first baseball game, an exhibition between the Astros and the New York Yankees. (The Astros win, 2-1.) In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger ends its first mission with a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 2003, jubilant Iraqis celebrate the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad and embracing American troops as liberators.
April 9, 1980: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Neil Goldschmidt stops in Youngstown as part of a Midwest fact-finding tour, and meets with area mayors to discuss the Mahoning Valley's economic problems.
Jones & amp; Laughlin Steel Corp. is selling its Cold Metal Products Co. plants in Youngstown and Indianapolis to AARQUE Management Corp. AARQUE bought the Van Huffel Tube plant, a Warren subsidiary of the former Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., from J & amp;L in 1979.
April 9, 1965: Fred Rein, 47, of Warren is killed when he stops his car for one train then drives onto the tracks, into the path of a second train at the Burton Street crossing of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.
A historic first will take place on Holy Thursday when 12 priests join Auxiliary Bishop James w. Malone for concelebration of the Mass of the Holy Chrism in St. Columba Cathedral. The colorful ceremony will be televised live on WFMJ-TV.
April 9, 1955: A 17-year-old boy is killed and three others are seriously injured outside Coshocton in what Highway Patrol troopers say was a head-on crash during a game of "chicken." Two cars race toward each other with lights out, and the first to swerve or turn on his lights is "chicken."
The Rev. George J. Baisler of New Kensington, a native of Petersburg, Ohio, will receive a doctor of divinity degree at the Thiel College commencement.
Dr. Louis T. Benezet, president of Allegheny College since 1948, is resigning at the end of the school year to accept the presidency of Colorado College at Colorado Springs.
April 9, 1930: Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube management pushes for a vote on a merger with Bethlehem Steel Corp. during a stockholder's meeting at Stambaugh Auditorium, and when the votes were counted, the managers claimed a victory margin of 79,000 votes. Under terms of the deal, Bethlehem will immediately take over operation of all Sheet & amp; Tube properties.
Consummation of the Republic Iron & amp; Steel Co., Central Alloy Steel Corp., Donner Steel Co. Inc. and The Bourne-Fuller Co. is formally announced. The new Republic Steel Corp. will have combined assets of $335 million.