Today is Saturday, Aug. 2, the 215th day of 2008. There are 151 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Aug. 2, the 215th day of 2008. There are 151 days left in the year. On this date in 1776, members of the Continental Congress begin attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

In 1790, the enumeration for the first United States census begins; the final total is 3,929,214. In 1873, inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tests a cable car he has designed for the city of San Francisco. In 1876, frontiersman “Wild Bill” Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, dies in San Francisco. In 1927, four years after becoming president, Calvin Coolidge issues a written statement to reporters: “I do not choose to run for President in 1928.” In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg dies, paving the way for Adolf Hitler’s complete takeover.

August 2, 1983: Five employees in the Mahoning County Welfare Department’s negotiation and evaluation unit are notified that their jobs are being eliminated.

Trustees of Youngstown Commerce Park in North Jackson and the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. move to establish a $666,000 loan fund to aid industrial firms in locating in the new industrial park.

Niles Mayor Joseph Cicero names Russell Bell as interim safety-service director to replace Gene Sprecacenere, who resigned to return to private industry.

August 2, 1968: Gloria McMaster of New York, a former professor of music at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University, will sing the Star-Spangeled Banner at the opening of the Republican National Convention in Miami.

The Pittsburgh Steel Corp. suspends some 600 employees involved in a walkout at its Thomas Strip Division in Warren, saying the strike was a violation of the company’s contract with the United Steel Workers.

Common Pleas Judge Forrest J. Cavalier enjoins the Youngstown Board of Education from deducting $5 dues from each noncertificated employee after a taxpayer suit by James Gardner, a realtor, challenges the board’s authority to establish an agency shop.

August 2, 1958: Gasoline fumes in the basement of the Happy Days Inn, 591 Mahoning Ave., keep firemen busy for four hours flushing out a sanitary sewer. The source of the gasoline in the sewer lines isn’t known.

The village of Leetonia will seek federal disaster aid to finance repairs to the village’s sewage disposal plant, knocked out by a cloudburst and flood waters from Cherry Valley Run.

August 2, 1933: Large stores in Youngstown go to a 40-hour week with a minimum wage of $13.50 for their 2,500 employees, a move that will probably create an additional 500 jobs.

Two girls who stayed up all night at the wake of Miss Nora Senf, who was killed in a car-truck collision in Vienna, are killed when they go for an early morning ride to get some fresh air. The girls’ car was struck by a milk truck a block from Miss Senf’s home. Dead are Mary McGuire, 21, and Rita Fulleman, 16. Two other girls were injured.