Today is Thursday, May 22, the 143rd day of 2008. There are 223 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, May 22, the 143rd day of 2008. There are 223 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, the nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sinks in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub are later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)

In 1813, composer Richard Wagner is born in Leipzig, Germany. In 1868, a major train robbery takes place near Marshfield, Ind., as members of the Reno gang make off with $96,000 in loot. In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, sign a “Pact of Steel” committing the two countries to a military alliance. In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10 flies to within nine miles of the moon’s surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing. In 1972, President Nixon begins a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In 1972, the island nation of Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka. In 1979, Canadians vote in parliamentary elections that put the Progressive Conservatives in power, ending the 11-year tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosts NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time.

May 22, 1983: Dennis J. Carney, chairman of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. says many of the jobs once performed by U.S. steelmakers are now being filled by inexpensive labor in booming mills in South Korea, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China.

A special report published by The Vindicator on organized crime in the Mahoning Valley earns the newspaper a first place award in news coverage from United Press International in Ohio.

May 22, 1968: The Youngstown-Warren area’s economy has rebounded from its 1962 low with a 20 percent gain in nonagricultural employment, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland reports.

YSU pins, which recognize scholastic achievement and extracurricular activities, are awarded to five graduating seniors at Youngstown State University: Ilona M. Johnson, Nino DiLullo, Paul Gregory and Luis F. Suarez, all of Youngstown, and Gordon W. Campbell Jr. of Niles.

Chauncey A. Cochran of Logan Way, a former Vindicator reporter, received shrapnel wounds while on a Navy public information mission in the Mekong Delta and is recovering in a military hospital in Saigon.

May 22, 1958: First Ward Councilman Michael J. McCullion says the city should reduce its sewerage charges during the summer months as a recognition that homeowners are using water on their lawns and in their gardens.

John J. Tobin Jr., 30, and his chief confederate, Paul E. Shade, 32, are sentenced to 1- to 10-years in the penitentiary after pleading guilty to charges that they defrauded the American Associated Insurance Co. of $250,000 by filing false claims.

May 22, 1933: The House ways and means committee approves a proposal increasing income tax rates from 4 to 6 percent on the first $4,000 of net income and from 8 to 10 percent on larger incomes. Those increases, along with an increased tax on gasoline and making corporate dividends subject to income tax will raise an estimated $221 million.

C.S. McCalla, vice president and division manager of the Ohio Edison Co., says he will meet with Youngstown Mayor Mark Moore to discuss the mayor’s demand for a lower electricity rate.