Today is Tuesday, May 20, the 141st day of 2008. There are 225 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Tuesday, May 20, the 141st day of 2008. There are 225 days left in the year. On this date in 1908, actor James Stewart is born in Indiana, Pa.

In 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus dies in Spain. In 1861, North Carolina votes to secede from the Union. In 1902, the United States ends a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba is established under its first elected president, Tomas Estrada Palma. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. In 1932, Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart sets down in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.) In 1939, trans-Atlantic mail service begins as a Pan American Airways plane, the Yankee Clipper, takes off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Europe.

In 1961, a white mob attacks a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order. In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces capture Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as “Hamburger Hill” by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

May 20, 1983: Bureau of Labor statistics show that 41 of 50 states have higher unemployment rates than Ohio.

Dr. Will W. Orr, president-emeritus of Westminster College, is the guest speaker at the United Presbyterian Church in New Wilmington.

Al Alli, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the General Motors Assembly Division in Lordstown, concedes the race for the union’s Region 2 director seat.

May 20, 1968: Rita Timko, a junior at Campbell Memorial High School, is chosen Miss Junior Achievement for 1968.

Catherine Weikart, social worker, teacher, church leader and creator of Children’s Park near Harrison School, is retiring after 21 years teaching in city schools.

May 20, 1958: Consolidation of the Hubbard and Youngstown Community Chests for campaign purposes receives tentative approve of the Youngstown Community Corp.

President Eisenhower urges American parents to get their full quota of polio shots for both themselves and their children.

May 20, 1933: Twenty-two automobile dealers in the Youngstown area report over 350 automobiles on back order and estimated that sales will pass 400 cars by June 1.

The Rev. Walter R. Greer, a farmer-pastor residing in Snodes Station just north of Sebring, suffers a concussion of the brain and facial lacerations when a cow he was leading along the highway became frightened by a passing motor vehicle and kicked him in the face.