Today is Wednesday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2006. There are 242 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2006. There are 242 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, Japanese forces on Okinawa launch their only major counteroffensive, but fail to break the American lines.
In 1802, Washington, D.C., is incorporated as a city. In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others are executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising. In 1921, West Virginia imposes the first state sales tax. In 1933, Nellie T. Ross becomes the first female director of the U.S. Mint. In 1944, U.S. wartime rationing of most grades of meats ends. In 1945, Indian forces capture Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese. In 1948, the Supreme Court rules that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups are legally unenforceable. In 1971, anti-war protesters begin four days of demonstrations in Washington aimed at shutting down the nation's capital. In 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher is chosen to become Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories oust the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections. In 1986, in NASA's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket loses power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.
May 3, 1981: Youngstown's income from airport parking in 1980 declined more than 75 percent from the previous year's, prompting a city examination of Associated Parking Corp.'s operation.
Joshua Lukin, a 7th grader at Austintown Middle School, is crowned champion of the 48th annual Vindicator Spelling Bee on the word "leprechaun."
General Motors Corp.'s Lordstown complex adopts the most exotic automobile technology, including new type robots, laser scanner and gamma ray inspection devices to supplement the quality-motivated 10,000-person force working on GM's new J-cars.
May 3, 1966: Dr. Albert L. Pugsley, 56, vice president of Kansas State University, will become the new president of Youngstown University, replacing Howard W. Jones, who has been president of the college since 1931.
Several thousand dollars are taken at gunpoint from Charles Rose, co-owner of the Union Distributing Co. of Girard, as he tries to make a night deposit at the Niles Bank in the McKinley Plaza. Youngstown Mayor A.B. Flask is president of Union Distributing.
Aided by fiberglass poles, Ohio high school pole vaulters are zeroing in on the state's long-standing record of 13 feet, 3/16 inches, set in 1928 by Salem High school's Lowell "Rib" Allen, who is a Boardman High teacher and former coach.
May 3, 1956: Youngstown City Council, casting its lot with Cleveland in the fight against a gas rate increase by East Ohio Gas Co., passes an ordinance to continue current gas rates beyond the end of the present contract in June.
Mrs. Jane Maxwell Pritchard, 66, of Detroit is named American Mother of 1966. She was born in Youngstown. She has adopted 10 children and provided a foster home to 34 others over the years.
The show business journal Variety reports that Warner Brothers Pictures will be sold for $66.9 million as Harry, Jack L. and Maj. Albert Warner, who got their start in the business in Youngstown, prepare to retire.
May 3, 1931: Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney G.H. Birrell leads spectacular raids on four places in Warren, but finds no liquor. A slot machine found at one site is destroyed and an expensive bar at another.
Businessmen attending a Chamber of Commerce convention in Washington differ over whether reducing wages will aid prosperity.
Pennsylvania Sen. Davis, speaking to the Eastern Pennsylvania Mail Carriers' Association, says reducing tariff duties would constitute "a mortal blow against our national existence."