Today is Thursday, June 26, the 178th day of 2008. There are 188 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, June 26, the 178th day of 2008. There are 188 days left in the year. On this date in 1963, President Kennedy visits West Berlin, where he makes his famous declaration: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner).

In 1870, the first section of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J., is opened to the public. In 1945, the charter of the United Nations is signed by 50 countries in San Francisco. In 1948, the Berlin Airlift begins in earnest after the Soviet Union cuts off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin. In 1950, President Truman authorizes the Air Force and Navy to enter the Korean conflict. In 1959, President Eisenhower joins Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 1968, Chief U.S. Justice Earl Warren announces he is resigning.

June 26, 1983: With a deadline only three weeks off, the Mahoning County Blue Ribbon Committee has collected only 40 percent of the signatures needed to place a proposal for a charter form of government on the November ballot.

Interior Secretary James G. Watt’s plan to open up most of the nation’s coastline to off-shore oil and gas drilling is attacked in a congressional staff report as a misguided program that could actually slow development of energy resources.

The 40th annual Youngstown Charity Horse Show is underway at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

June 26, 1968: Vandals throwing Molotov cocktails start three fires causing an estimated $2,100 damage to Holy Trinity Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church on Laird Avenue.

Youngstown teachers present demands of a $6,600 starting salary for the 1968-69 school year, an increase of $800.

June 26, 1958: First Presbyterian Church unveils architects drawings for its new $1 million building that will loom over the city from its site at Rayen Avenue and Wood Street. Plans call for construction to be completed by 1960.

A $50,000 acorn planted by a group of progressive Youngstown citizens has grown to a $1.6 million oak, the Youngstown Foundation, which finances charitable and educational work in the area. Henry H. Stambaugh made the first donation to the foundation, which has distributed $1 million and has assets of $1.8 million.

Heavy rains bring the first infestation of the year of thousands of maggots at the Kimmel Brook homes on the East Side. An entomologist conducted a study of a similar infestation in 1957 and recommended that garbage cans be kept well-sealed. Residents say garbage pick-up is not frequent enough and cans are overflowing.

June 26, 1933: C.J. Strouss of the Strouss-Hirschberg Co. in Youngstown reports from New York that the National Retail Dry Goods Association has adopted a code calling for minimum wage rates of $10 to $18 per week for experienced workers in department and dry good stores.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. is awarded a contract to furnish 900 tons of various sized steel pipe up to 20 inches in diameter for a plant be erected by Southern Alkali Corp. at Corpus Christi, Texas.