Today in history

Thursday, August 17, 2006 Today is Thursday, Aug. 17, the 229th day of 2006. There are 136 days left in the year. On this date in 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steam Boat begins heading up New York's Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany. In 1863, Federal batteries and ships bombard Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., harbor during the Civil War. In 1896, a prospecting party discovers gold in Alaska, a finding that touches off the Klondike gold rush. In 1915, a mob in Cobb County, Ga., lynches Jewish businessman Leo Frank, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment. (Frank, who'd maintained his innocence, is pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.) In 1942, during World War II, U.S. 8th Air Force bombers attack Rouen, France. In 1943, the Allied conquest of Sicily is completed as U.S. and British forces enter Messina. In 1969, 248 people are killed as Hurricane Camille slams into the Gulf Coast. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair concludes near Bethel, N.Y. In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ends as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman land their Double Eagle II outside Paris. August 17, 1981: At least 10 people are subpoenaed to appear before a Mahoning County grand jury deliberating the forgery case against David B. Williams, parking concessionaire at the Youngstown Municipal Airport. A three-week strike by miners at the C&W Mining Co., which operates a large coal-washing site near Lisbon, ends. Kevin Clark, 16, of Niles has a growing collection of 1,400 beer cans valued at $2,500 and is becoming an authority on the beer industry in the Mahoning Valley. August 17, 1966: A campaign to clear the air in the Mahoning Valley is launched by a three-man smoke abatement committee in Struthers. New basic oxygen steelmaking furnaces at the Cleveland plant of Republic Steel Corp. are dedicated as the company's board of directors and civic and political leaders witness the production of a heat of steel in less than 50 minutes. A Methodist minister is the first witness in a lawsuit in Eugene, Ore., seeking removal of a 51-foot illuminated cross built in 1964 in a city park. The minister agreed with the suit, which says the cross violates the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. August 17, 1956: An ex-convict accused of throwing acid into the face of Victor Riesel, labor columnist, spent some weeks in a hideout near Youngstown, the FBI reports after arresting two men in connection with the blinding of Riesel. No details about the hideout were announced. The Sisters of the Humility of Mary adopt a new linen habit that fits closer to the head and face of the nuns. It is the third change in headdress for the order in its 102-year history. The nuns operate St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph hospitals and teach at St. Brendan and St. Edward schools in Youngstown. The Mahoning Bridle and Saddle Show presents checks totaling $7,000 to five district charities, the largest amount raised in the history of the charity horse show. August 17, 1931: Dominic Pascarella, 20, drowns while bathing in the Lincoln Park pool, the first drowning in the new pool. Authorities believe he dove into the shallow end of the pool. William Grebenec, 7, of Bessemer, Pa., drowns when he falls into a 100-barrel water tank behind his house while playing with a tiny sail boat in the water. Youngstown's fund for the poor is exhausted after nearly 200 applicants are given aid. People seeking assistance will henceforth be referred to the Allied Council. The city expended $20,000 a month the last three months in aiding the poor.