Today is Monday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2006. There are 223 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2006. There are 223 days left in the year. On this date in 1868, the "Great Train Robbery" takes place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang make off with $96,000 in loot.
In 1761, the first life insurance policy in the United States is issued, in Philadelphia. In 1813, composer Richard Wagner is born in Leipzig, Germany. In 1819, the first steam-propelled vessel to attempt a trans-Atlantic crossing, the Savannah, departs from Savannah, Ga. In 1939, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini sign a "Pact of Steel" committing Germany and Italy to a military alliance. In 1947, the "Truman Doctrine" is enacted as Congress appropriates military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10 flies to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing. In 1972, President Nixon begins a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders sign the SALT I arms limitation treaty. In 1972, the island nation of Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka. In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosts NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.
May 22, 1981: An arson fire continues to burn its way through thousands of used tires at Diver Steel City Auto Crusher in Youngstown, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air. Half the city's fire-fighting equipment is on the scene pouring thousands of gallons of water on the inferno.
Kim Seelbrede, Miss Ohio, wins the Miss USA pageant in Biloxi, Miss. Miss New York watched the pageant from the audience, having been disqualified for padding her swimsuit top.
Dr. George D. Beelen, chairman of the History Department at Youngstown State University, is elected chairman of the Eastern Ohio Chapter of the American Heart Association at the 32nd annual meeting.
May 22, 1966: The 1966 graduating class of West Branch High School in Beloit has four sets of twins among its195 members. They are June and John Schoeni, Terri and Thomas Chain, Kay and Ray Stoffer and Bob and Ron Brogan.
The boyhood home of William Holmes McGuffey in Coitsville Township will become a national historic landmark, U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan announces.
Mahoning County will auction 8,402 pieces of property having a total of unpaid taxes exceeding $1 million. It will be the first forfeiture sale in a decade.
May 22, 1956: Mahoning County Welfare Department expenditures for the first four months of 1956 averaged $112,000, about 23 percent less than for the same period a year earlier.
A 13 year-old North Side Youngstown girl bites a 200-pound assailant on the hand and then drives him off by striking him in the head with a pop bottle after he accosted her in the 700 block of Park Ave.
A spectacular $35,000 fire destroys two large barns and a pony barn on the Harold Brown farm on Route 224 near Ellsworth.
May 22, 1931: Louis Vitullo, a petty gangster, and Victor Mihaly, a paroled youthful bandit, are jailed in connection with the murder of Betty Palko, 27, who was found slain in a ditch between Mineral Ridge and McDonald.
Daniel E. Mills, a student pilot, plunges 800 feet to his death near Niles when he leapt or fell from his plane shortly after taking off for a trip to Cleveland. The instructor, William D. Jones, safely landed the plane.