Today in History

Today is Tuesday, April 25, the 115th day of 2006. There are 250 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces link up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatizes the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses.
In 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier becomes the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine. In 1859, ground is broken for the Suez Canal. In 1898, the United States formally declares war on Spain. In 1906, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan is born in Newark, N.J. In 1908, broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow is born in Pole Creek, N.C. In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invade the Gallipoli Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Turkish Empire out of the war. In 1945, delegates from some 50 countries meet in San Francisco to organize the United Nations. In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.
April 25, 1981: U.S. Steel Corp. is moving ahead with its plan to establish a 250-acre industrial park along the Mahoning River in Youngstown. The steelmaker's Ohio Works will be dismantled over the course of a year.
Attendance is lower than usual on the first Saturday that classes are held in Youngstown city schools. Saturday sessions will continue through June so that the school district can make up the 23 class days missed during a teachers strike.
Members of Cub Packs 45 and 9 and Explorer Post 192 spruce up the Ford Nature Education Center in Mill Creek Park for Arbor Day, planting several trees, including a pink dogwood.
April 25, 1966: Marvin Minneman, president of Chevyland at 4695 Mahoning Ave., is not yet 30 and is possibly the youngest Chevrolet franchise holder in the country. His grandfather was the largest Chevrolet dealer in Pittsburgh and his late father ran the Chevy franchise in Girard.
Pvt. William Dolecki Jr., 17, is identified by the Pentagon as one of 82 persons killed in the crash of a chartered airliner in southern Oklahoma.
Violent winds splinter trees and damage homes along Center Road in Poland Township. Damage is estimated at $15,000.
Mayor Anthony B. Flask issues an order prohibiting leaves of absence for city workers seeking employment elsewhere. Flask said the action was necessary because leaves, primarily for those seeking employment at the new General Motors plant in Lordstown, are crippling some city departments.
April 25, 1956: Miss Hermine Mekertichian, an English teacher in the Tehran, Iran, public schools, is visiting Youngstown schools for one week as part of a Margaret A. Boyd Overseas Scholarship sponsored by Ohio Delta Kappa Gamma sororities.
Ground is broken for a new iron ore sintering plant at the U.S. Steel Corp.'s Ohio Works, clearing the way for boosting the company's iron output and possibly increasing steel output.
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission orders Ohio's 160 independent telephone companies to reduce many of their toll charges. The commission rules that independent companies cannot raise their rates simply because the Ohio Bell Telephone Co. does.
April 25, 1931: The Park Theater in downtown Youngstown will be completely revamped and redecorated, at a cost of $70,000.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Ray Thomas refuses to answer questions about $20,000 on deposit in Central Savings & amp; Loan Co. in the names of various members of his family during a deposition in the $100,000 slander suit brought against him by Atty. Andrew M. Henderson. Thomas invoked his right not to answer questions that might incriminate him.
"The Truth about Prohibition" will be the subject of U.S. Sen. Robert J. Bulkley when he addresses the Youngstown Crusaders at the Ohio Hotel. The Crusaders is a nationwide organization the supports substituting local control for national prohibition.
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