Today is Wednesday, April 26, the 116th day of 2006. There are 249 days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, April 26, the 116th day of 2006. There are 249 days left in the year. On this date in 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire kill at least 31 people and send radioactivity into the atmosphere.
In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, is surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed. In 1937, planes from Nazi Germany raid the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, is arrested. In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania. In 1968, the United States explodes beneath the Nevada desert a 1-megaton nuclear device called "Boxcar." In 1970, the Broadway musical "Company" opens at the Alvin Theatre in New York. In 1994, a Taiwanese jetliner crashed in Nagoya, Japan, killing 264 people. In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
April 26, 1981: The spring quarter at Youngstown State University enrollment reaches 14,227, the second-highest for that quarter in the university's history and the highest spring enrollment in five years.
A $20 million project billed as the first earth-sheltered residential living complex in the United States is planned for central Columbiana County, on land adjacent to Guilford Lake state park.
Dr. David P. Ruggles is named dean of Youngstown State University's School of Education, succeeding Dr. Arnold J. Moore.
April 26, 1966: Robert Williams, president of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., says it looks like 1966 will be another good year for volume production in the steel industry.
One of Youngstown's biggest developers, B & amp;I Management, will erect a luxury apartment complex of 24 units at Gypsy Lane and Northview Drive in Liberty at a cost of $450,000.
A U.S. F4C Phantom jet downs a MIG21 in a dogfight over North Vietnam. The Russian-made MIG21 is the latest jet fighter being used by Communists in Asia and this was the first one downed.
April 26, 1956: George L. Stowe, 6th Ward councilman, says gambling is so wide open in Youngstown that numbers are being written in the sight of policemen, during a heated exchange with Police Chief Paul Cress in City Council chambers.
Dr. Karl L. Fetters, a metallurgical engineer, tells Youngstown Rotarians that Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. is keeping ahead of developments in the atomic energy field and is prepared to take advantage of future developments as they come along.
During a meeting of city officials and air service representatives efforts are discussed to find a method of financing the city's share of about $127,000 worth of improvements at Youngstown Municipal Airport.
April 26, 1931: With a per capita expenditure of $1.63, Youngstown is the second lowest of Ohio's eight major cities in its expenditure for government operations, including city council, mayor, law and finance departments.
The Mill Creek Riding Club stages its annual spring horse show in the club's indoor arena on Bears Den Road.
Major Gen. Smedley D. Butler is cut off by an announcer on Radio Station WELK in Philadelphia after using the word "hell" as part of a quotation while telling a story about the capture of Fort Riviere, Haiti, in 1915. "We are sorry if you have been offended by Gen. Butler's use of profane and obscene language," announcer Howard Miller tells the audience.