Today is Sunday, March 19, the 78th day of 2006. There are 287 days left in the year. This is the date the swallows traditionally return to the San Juan Capistrano Mission in California. On this date

Today is Sunday, March 19, the 78th day of 2006. There are 287 days left in the year. This is the date the swallows traditionally return to the San Juan Capistrano Mission in California. On this date in 1953, the Academy Awards ceremony is televised for the first time; "The Greatest Show on Earth" is named best picture of 1952.
In 1859, the opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod premieres in Paris. In 1917, the Supreme Court upholds the eight-hour work day for railroads. In 1918, Congress approves daylight-saving time. In 1931, Nevada legalizes gambling. In 1945, during World War II, 724 people are killed when a Japanese dive bomber attacks the U.S. carrier Franklin off Japan; the ship, however, is saved. In 1945, Adolf Hitler issues his so-called "Nero Decree," ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands. In 1951, Herman Wouk's World War II novel "The Caine Mutiny" is first published. In 1976, Buckingham Palace announces the separation of Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowdon, after 16 years of marriage. In 1979, the U.S. House of Representatives begins televising its day-to-day business. In 2003, President Bush orders the start of war against Iraq. (Because of the time difference, it is early March 20 in Iraq.)
March 19, 1981: Trumbull County commissioners unanimously approve the annexation of nearly 300 acres from Bazetta Township to Cortland and 200 acres of Howland Township to Warren.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development releases $319,000 in frozen Community Development block grant funds to Niles. The money had been frozen when the city refused to cooperate in locating 50 units of low-and moderate-income housing units in the city.
The Youngstown Board of Education votes to place a 7.9-mill levy on the November ballot, but the gesture was not enough to convince the Youngstown Education Association to end its four-week strike, which has closed city schools.
John C. Eschliman, surgeon, educator and former member of the Mahoning County Board of Education, dies at the age of 86.
Three area high school seniors receive National Achievement Scholarships for outstanding Negro students. They are Ronald J. Torbert of South High School, Lisa K. McCoy of Howland High, and Anthony V. Grimes of Alliance High School.
March 19, 1966: Youngstown University trustees are seriously considering becoming a state university. Trustees are also beginning preliminary work to find a replacement for Dr. Howard Jones, university president, who says he wants to retire in two or three years.
Five students from the Rochester, N.Y., Institute of Technology miraculously escape death when their car leaps a divider strip in the Federal Street Expressway and collides with an oncoming car. The college students' car disintegrated and bursts into flames. The students were en route to Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house at Youngstown University for a party.
A 10-mile section of central Columbiana County is without power for several hours after a landslide east of Lisbon pulled out a pole, bringing down a mainline.
Advertisement: Famous "Matchbox Vehicles," regularly 55 cents, now three for $1. Individually boxed., 48 vehicles to choose at any of the five G.C. Murphy Co. stores in the Youngstown area.
March 19, 1956: Ten Youngstown men are among the 169 applicants who passed the Ohio bar examination. They are Thomas S. Acker, Thomas J. Flynn, Lee Gotzlinger, Theodore Humphrey, Joseph E. O'Neill, Bernard Price, Armond V. Rossi, Daniel B. Roth and Michael Yurchison. The test was taken by 281 applicants.
Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize winning author, who lived on "Malabar Farms" near Mansfield since 1938, dies in University Hospital, Columbus, of a jaundice infection. He was 59.
The greatest show on a basketball court -- Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters -- are coming to the South Field House under the auspices of the United Veterans Council.
March 19, 1931: Rural members of the Ohio General Assembly combine to block a proposal that would allow counties to adopt home rule and to rebuilt the antiquated governmental machinery under which counties now operate.
Youngstown police have access to two new .35 caliber high-powered automatic rifles that are capable of shooting through an automobile and crack a motor block.
Two people narrowly escape death in Struthers when an eastbound Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train destroys their automobile. E.S. Williams and Clarice Tacker received body bruises and cuts and were given first aid at a physicians office.
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