Today in history

Today is Monday, July 31, the 212th day of 2006. There are 153 days left in the year. On this date in 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major general in the American Continental Army.
In 1556, St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus -- the Jesuit order of Catholic priests and brothers -- dies in Rome. In 1945, Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi Vichy government, surrenders to U.S. authorities in Austria; he is turned over to France, which later tried and executed him. In 1948, President Truman helps dedicate New York International Airport (later John F. Kennedy International Airport) at Idlewild Field. In 1953, Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio, known as "Mr. Republican," dies in New York at age 63. In 1972, Democratic vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdraws from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment. In 1991, President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. In 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives votes 265-162 to ban all cloning of human embryos, casting Congress' first votes on the divisive ethical issue.
July 31, 1981: The Western Reserve Transit Authority Board of Trustees votes to place a 1-mill property tax on the November general election ballot for renewal, but may still ask voters to approve a companion additional tax.
Palestinian guerrillas shell Deir Aames, a Christian village in Southern Lebanon, but the Christian militia does not immediately respond. The leader of the Christian forces will discuss a response with Israel.
July 31, 1966: Youngstown's municipal airport may become a site for new industrial plants as well as drawing urgently needed diversified industries to the area, Airport Manager Donald Glass predicts.
Leroy C. Sweed, office manager of the Ohio Water Service Co., retires after 48 years with the company. He started with the company as a meter reader in 1917, a month before his 16th birthday.
July 31, 1956: John V. Popa, 75, dies of a broken neck after falling from a hay wagon on his farm on Kirk Road near S. Turner Road.
Thirty-six prisoners at Rock Quarry State Prison in Buford, Ga., break their own legs with 10-pound sledge hammers to protest having to push overloaded wheelbarrows in 90 degree heat. The prison is known as Georgia's Little Alcatraz.
July 31, 1931: The Erie Railroad will file appropriation suits against First Christian Church after it rejects an offer the railroad made for land it says it needs to complete its grade elimination project. The railroad still hopes to reach an agreement with St. Columba Church for land it owns, but said First Christian's rejection of an offer of $200,000 made further negotiations futile.
The Perry Victory Memorial, a granite monument 352 feet high and lighted at top, is dedicated at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, in a ceremony that was broadcast by the National Broadcasting Co.