Today is Thursday, July 3, the 185th day of 2008. There are 181 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, July 3, the 185th day of 2008. There are 181 days left in the year. On this date in 1608, the city of Quebec is founded by Samuel de Champlain.

In 1775, Gen. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass. In 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat. In 1898, the U.S. Navy defeats a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. In 1908, author Joel Chandler Harris, the creator of Uncle Remus, dies in Atlanta. In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recapture Minsk. In 1962, Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule. In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27. In 1978, the Supreme Court, in Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, rules the FCC is within its authority to reprimand New York radio station WBAI-FM for broadcasting George Carlin’s “Filthy Words” comedy routine.

July 3, 1983: Bruce Zoldan, president of B.J. Alan Co., says that even if Ohio were to outlaw retail sales of fireworks, his company will survive because a third of his business is mail-order and most of the rest is wholesale. Zoldan says walk-in sales at his Columbiana-Canfield Road store is “gravy.”

Julian Suso, a development consultant hired by the Youngstown Revitalization Foundation, says the entranceways to the city have to be cleaned up.

The Youngstown Chapter of the Order of DeMolay bestows the Degree of Chevalier on James K. Phllips, a graduate student at Youngstown State University, who is an adviser to the organization.

July 3, 1968: Men in eight to 10 cars destroy a quantity of beer being delivered to the O.H. Gill, 207 Steel St., in the second attack on beer deliveries since beer truck drivers went on strike.

The Mayor’s Human Relations Commission says Youngstown, like the rest of the nation, must face up to consequences of urban social and economic decline and adopts 38 recommendations for improving community cooperation.

Three employees of Diamond Steel Construction Co. working on dismantling the State Chevrolet Building at 669 Wick Ave. are injured when the roof collapses.

July 3, 1958: No challenges are made at a Boardman Township trustees public hearing on a petition drive to place an issue on the November ballot regarding incorporation of the township.

Jim Meyer of Boardman wins the boys 18 and under division of the Youngstown tennis tournament sponsored by the Jaycees. Other winners are Joanne Micchia, girls 15 and under; Tom Davis, boys 15 and under; Karen Singer, girls 18 and under. All will play in the Jaycees Ohio tournament.

The United States Coast Guard carrier Maple is the first vessel to navigate the new locks on the American sector of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

July 3, 1933: A seven-pound baby girl found alive in a garbage can at the rear of the Pioneer Pavilion in Mill Creek Park is reported “getting along fine” at the South Side unit of the Youngstown Hospital Association. The child was apparently abandoned about two hours after birth.

A girl cashier carrying a money bag looked like an easy mark to a 35-year-old would-be holdup man in downtown Youngstown, but he didn’t reckon with Pauline Simko’s nerve, or a nearby gang of ragged newsboys who responded to her cries of “robber.” They cornered the robber in Pappas’ Restaurant, where detectives arrested him.

More than 400 employees of Truscon Steel Co. are reported enrolled in an American Federation of Labor union.