Today is Monday, Aug. 18, the 231st day of 2008. There are 135 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Monday, Aug. 18, the 231st day of 2008. There are 135 days left in the year. On this date in 1587, Virginia Dare becomes the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, N.C. (However, the colony she was born into ends up mysteriously disappearing.)

In 1838, the first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government sets sail from Hampton Roads, Va.; the crews travels the southern Pacific Ocean, gathering scientific information. In 1846, U.S. forces led by Gen. Stephen W. Kearny capture Santa Fe, N.M. In 1894, Congress establishes the Bureau of Immigration. In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right of all American women to vote, is ratified as Tennessee becomes the 36th state to approve it. In 1958, the novel “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov is first published in New York by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, almost three years after the book was originally published in Paris. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair ends in Sullivan County, N.Y., with a mid-morning set performed by Jimi Hendrix. In 1976, two U.S. Army officers are killed in Korea’s demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked U.S. and South Korean soldiers. In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slams into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars’ worth of damage.

August 18, 1983: Mahoning County Commissioners set two public hearings on a proposed temporary “piggyback” sales tax increasingly viewed as the only feasible way of continuing county operations through the remainder of the year.

Nine of 25 Youngstown patrolmen laid off in January will return to work, but Police Chief John E. Lynch III contends that the callback won’t be nearly enough to adequately beef up his force.

August 18, 1968: Applications for admission to Youngstown State University by freshman, transfer and former students number 5,483, or 100 more than last year, and applications to YSU’s new graduate school total 402. Included in the undergraduate program for the first time will be new Technical and Community College students who are pursuing associate degrees.

Sharon Steel Corp.’s new $3 million general office building and research center is nearing completion in on Route 62 in Brookfield Township.

August 18, 1958: Three Western Pennsylvania youngsters drown in separate incidents at Pymatuning Lake, the Shenango River near Sharpsville and Tionesta Creek. Among them is Ralph Malash, 13, of New Castle, who drowned in Tionesta Creek.

Pennsylvania Gov. George Leader unveils a $120 million program designed to expand 14 state teachers colleges and enable the state to “prepare more and better teachers for its classrooms.”

August 18, 1933: The Metropolitan Savings Loan Association and Home Savings Loan Association in Youngstown announce a reduction of 1 percent in interest rates to borrowers.

A diver brought in from Cleveland is searching Lake Hamilton, looking for a gun said to have been thrown into the lake near Struthers by Peter Milich, 23, one of two youths who have accused two Youngstown patrolmen of participating in North Side robberies.