Today is Sunday, June 22, the 174th day of 2008. There are 192 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Sunday, June 22, the 174th day of 2008. There are 192 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa ends with an Allied victory; some 13,000 Americans and 90,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 130,000 civilians, are killed in the nearly three-month campaign.

In 1807, a British frigate, the HMS Leopard, attacks and boards the American ship USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in search of Royal Navy deserters. In 1870, the U.S. Department of Justice is created. In 1937, Joe Louis begins his reign as world heavyweight boxing champion by knocking out Jim Braddock in the eighth round of their fight in Chicago. In 1938, Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium. In 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gains a stunning victory as France is forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overrun Paris. In 1944, President Roosevelt signs the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the “GI Bill of Rights.” In 1969, singer-actress Judy Garland dies in London at age 47. In 1977, John N. Mitchell becomes the first former U.S. attorney general to go to prison as he begins serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He is released 19 months later.) In 1988, gay rights activist Leonard Matlovich, discharged from the U.S. Air Force because of his homosexuality, dies at age 44. In 1993, former first lady Pat Nixon dies in Park Ridge, N.J., at age 81.

June 22, 1983: Robert Spencer, who lost a close race in Youngs-town’s Democratic mayoral primary to city council President Pat Ungaro, says he wants a hand recount of the ballots.

Former Mahoning County Sheriff Ray T. Davis turns himself in to begin serving a five-year prison sentence for bribery and is taken to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.

Jennifer Foster of Boardman and Michael Lin of Liberty will spend a month in Darmstadt, Germany, as part of the Children’s International Village summer cultural exchange program.

June 22, 1968: Nicholas D’Amato, superintendent of Campbell schools, is elected president of the Youngstown Area Community Action Council.

Youngstown State University will receive $15,000 of a $430,000 state program to provide tutorial assistance to students with poverty backgrounds.

Sam M. Colaizzi of Austintown is elected commander of Disabled American Veteran Chapter 2 in Youngstown.

June 22, 1958: The highest summer school enrollment in Youngstown University history, totaling 2,700 students, represents an increase of 17 percent over 1957. Of those, 207 are freshmen getting a head start on their degrees.

Twenty-five ore-laden hopper cars are scattered over the New York Central Railroad’s main line just east of General Fireproofing Co. in Youngstown. Freight traffic between Ashtabula and Youngstown and passenger traffic from New York to Pittsburgh had to be rerouted.

Advertisement: “Hey Kids, now is the time to join the Tee Ross Summer Accordion Club. Lessons, $1 weekly includes use of an accordion at home and lessons. Play in the band at Idora Park on Tee Ross Music Day, Aug. 26.”

June 22, 1933:Army Engineers estimate a Beaver-Mahoning rivers canal that would link Youngstown to the Ohio River would cost $50 million. Local backers of the project have estimated the cost at $30 million.

Mahoning County Judge George Gessner overrules a motion for a new trial for Cyrus H. Neff, Canfield merchant who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his wife.

Former President Herbert Hoover will become the librarian of a unique war library at Stanford University in California. Additional space will be provided to house material brought from Washington by Hoover.