Today is Wednesday, March 26, the 86th day of 2008. There are 280 days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, March 26, the 86th day of 2008. There are 280 days left in the year. On this date in 1958, the U.S. Army launches America’s third successful satellite, Explorer 3.

In 1804, the Louisiana Purchase is divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. In 1827, composer Ludwig van Beethoven dies in Vienna. In 1892, poet Walt Whitman dies in Camden, N.J. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans become the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeat the Montreal Canadiens. In 1958, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” wins seven Academy Awards, including best picture of 1957; its director, David Lean, and star Alec Guinness also receive Oscars. Joanne Woodward is named best actress for “The Three Faces of Eve.” In 1971, East Pakistan proclaims its independence, taking the name Bangladesh. In 1979, a peace treaty is signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House. In 1982, groundbreaking ceremonies take place in Washington for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In 1988, Jesse Jackson stuns fellow Democrats by soundly defeating Michael Dukakis in Michigan’s Democratic presidential caucuses. In 1997, the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate techno-religious cult who’d committed suicide are found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

March 26, 1983: Pennsylvania Gov. Richard Thornburgh challenges 902 graduates of Youngstown State University to “build a generation of competence” that will enable the United States to win “the harsh trial of an economy in transition.”

A 16-inch water main bursts near Westlake’s Crossing, flooding streets in the Riverbend and closing the Superior Beverage Co. The line is fed by a 30-million gallon underground reservoir on Moherman Avenue on the West Side and pressure is reduced throughout the city.

Mary B. Smith of Boardman, retired director of career services at Youngstown State University, is elected president of the board of trustees of the Society for the Blind and Disabled.

March 26, 1968: Youngstown police detectives, sergeants, lieutenants and captains are circulating letters suggesting that a new bargaining unit be formed because a recent wage settlement reached by the Fraternal Order of Police was “slanted in favor of patrolmen.”

Mahoning County commissioners reduce the Mahoning County Welfare Department general relief appropriations by $150,000, noting that the department ended the year with a $276,000 balance.

The Ohio Edison Co. announces that it is cutting rates for its larger residential customers, those who use electricity for air conditioning, water heaters and space heaters.

March 26, 1958: Youngstown City Council will meet with Trac-tion Commissioner James W. Cannon to discuss recent service cuts by the Youngstown Transit Co. and explore the possibility of the city’s taking over the transit line.

Sharon City Council approves legislation that would extend Daylight Savings Time by a month, ending DST in October rather than September.

The new W.T. Grant Co. department store, the fourth in the Youngstown area, opens in the Liberty Shopping Plaza on Belmont Avenue.

March 26, 1933: Russell McKay, vice president of Home Savings Loan Co., declares that he expects his institution and all other building and loan companies in the city to be declared perfectly sound when examiners reach the city.

Archbishop Edward A. Mooney, apostolic delegate to Japan and the only American who is a papal delegate, sails from New York for Europe aboard the liner Augustus. He will spend a month in Europe before returning to Japan.

Cleveland city officials say the municipal light plant made a profit of $335,366 in 1932, an increase of about $14,000 over a year earlier, even though less power was sold.