Today is Monday, May 26, the 147th day of 2008. There are 219 days left in the year. This is the

Today is Monday, May 26, the 147th day of 2008. There are 219 days left in the year. This is the Memorial Day observance. On this date 1908, the first major oil strike in the Middle East takes place as engineers working for British entrepreneur William Knox D’Arcy and led by George B. Reynolds hit a gusher more than 1,100 feet below ground in Masjid-i-Suleiman, Persia (Iran).

In 1521, Martin Luther is banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings. In 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal on the remaining charges. In 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee is established by Congress. In 1940, the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, begins during World War II. In 1960, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge accuses the Soviets of hiding a microphone inside a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States that had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow. In 1972, President Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow. (The U.S. withdraws from the treaty in 2002.)

May 26, 1983: A federal judicial panel’s opposition to having a permanent federal judge in Youngstown could doom plans for a new $10.6 million federal courthouse in downtown Youngstown.

The Youngstown Catholic Diocese’s Father Kane Camp at Lake Milton will be closed for this summer and is up for sale.

May 26, 1968: A fire at Hayes Junior High School sends some 650 students scurrying into the street. The fire, which broke out at 11:30 a.m. in the library, caused several thousand dollars damage and cancellation of classes for the rest of the day.

Les Nagy, the brilliant sophomore runner from Niles McKinley High School, shatters the Class AA two mile record at the Ohio High School Track Championship, winning in 9:27.

May 26, 1958: Detroit officials of the S.S. Kresge Co. cut ribbons to officially open a modern new Kresge store in the Liberty Plaza.

Luther Fawcett, chief engineer for the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, said he predicted in 1923 that when Boardman sewers reached capacity they would overflow into Lake Newport in Mill Creek Park.

May 26, 1933:After a 45-minute charge by J.H.C. Lyon, the jury of nine women and three men trying former Mayor William G. Reese on a charge of assault with intent to kill Mrs. Anna Washok begins its deliberations.

T.A. “Art” Jones, well-known Youngstown aviator, is under arrest near St. Catharines, Ont., where he was stopped while attempting to take off with 14 cases of Canadian whiskey in the plane.

John Hassay, 42, of Youngstown is found dead outside a home he owned on Courtland Avenue in Campbell which was leveled by a powerful explosion.