Today is Tuesday, June 24, the 176th day of 2008. There are 190 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Tuesday, June 24, the 176th day of 2008. There are 190 days left in the year. On this date in 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the massive Berlin Airlift.

In 1509, Henry VIII is crowned king of England. In 1793, the first republican constitution in France is adopted. In 1807, a grand jury in Richmond, Va., indicts former Vice President Aaron Burr on charges of treason and high misdemeanor (he is later acquitted). In 1908, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, Grover Cleveland, dies in Princeton, N.J., at age 71. In 1948, the Republican National Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, nominates New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president. In 1975, 113 people are killed when an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashes while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger — carrying America’s first woman in space, Sally K. Ride — coasts to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

June 24, 1983: Trumbull County Sheriff’s Lt. Stephen Fedyuski, 55, is in serious condition with a gunshot wound suffered while answering a “routine call” at the Country Cabaret, 2168 Highland Ave. SE. A night watchman at the caf is in custody

U.S. Rep. Lyle Williams of Lordstown is one of only 10 House Republicans to support the 1984 federal budget resolution written by House Democrats and Senate Republicans.

During an Ohio Public Utilities Commission hearing at Youngstown State University, customers of East Ohio Gas Co., local politicians and business operators say the gas company doesn’t need or deserve a proposed $52.6 million rate increase.

June 24, 1968: Susan Alane Thompson, 28, of Grove City, Pa., is chosen Miss Iowa during a pageant at Davenport, Iowa. She is a sophomore at Drake University.

Rioting inmates battle guards and police with baseball bats and homemade knives and set numerous fires during riots at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

The Youngstown District Amateur Invitational Golf Association honors Jack Kerins as “Golfer of the Year” during a tournament at Tam O’Shanter.

June 24, 1958: A 33-year-old mother of two children is fatally burned when a fire sweeps through at second floor garage apartment at 360 Grant St. Mrs. Moleatha Dennis is pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Two of five suitcases stolen from Mrs. Ralph T. Reed of New York, wife of the president of American Express, after she stopped at a Boardman motel are found in downtown Youngstown, but jewelry and furs valued at $23,000 are missing.

Bethlehem Steel Corp. asks a federal court in New York to dismiss the government’s suit against its proposed merger with Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.

June 24, 1933: Capt. Fred L. Smith, Ohio director of aeronautics, tells Youngstown officials that it may get $100,000 in federal funds for airport development if a site can be secured at once.

Emery L. McKelvey, 66, of 1810 Volney Road, vice president and general manager of the G.M. Mc-Kelvey Co. for 17 years, dies in North Side Hospital four days after surgery for a bladder ailment.

The Macon, the U.S. Navy’s new queen of the skies, flying from its cradle at Akron to its new home at Lakehurst, N.J., appears as a blinking cigar shortly after nightfall in Youngstown’s skies.