Today in history

Today is Sunday, April 26, the 116th day of 2009. There are 249 days left in the year. On this date in 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, is surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed.

In 1607, English colonists go ashore at present-day Cape Henry, Va., on an expedition to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere. In 1909, Abdul Hamid II is deposed as sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In 1937, planes from Nazi Germany raid the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania. In 1968, the United States explodes beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called “Boxcar.” In 1970, the Stephen Sondheim musical “Company” opens at the Alvin Theatre in New York. In 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. In 1989, actress-comedian Lucille Ball dies at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 77. In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signs the nation’s first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

April 26. 1984: A wind-whipped fire sweeps down the midway of Idora Park, destroying the Lost River and Turtle rides and half of the park’s most famous ride, the Wild Cat roller coaster.

Warren City Council balks at approving a $65,000 expenditure for new lighting and sound equipment at Packard Music Hall, saying more time was needed to study the proposal. Hall Director Eugene Sisk says time is running out to complete the renovations in time for the June 19 opening of Frank Kenley’s Theater of the Stars.

Lawyers for two men accused of smuggling beer into Ohio from Pennsylvania say the law under which they were charged is unconstitutional because the men bought the beer for personal consumption, not resale.

April 26, 1969: Mahoning County Prosecutor Vincent Gilmartin meets with both sides in a dispute over which of two unions represents Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputies and says the decision may have to be decided by the courts.

The Columbus Citizen Journal reports that Trumbull County commissioner Robert Hagan may be a candidate for governor. The story by James Grohl, a former Vindicator reporter, says Hagan would have backing from the reform-minded New Democratic Coalition.

Austintown Fitch, sparked by its record-setting mile relay team and double winner distance star Rick Cooksey, captures the Class AA championship at the Mahoning County meet, dethroning Boardman, which had won the title the last two years.

April 26, 1959: The East Side War Memorial is dedicated at Himrod Avenue and Oak Street, a project that was sponsored by the Arthur McGuinness Post, VFW, at a cost of $2,000 that was raised from residents and businessmen.

Paul M. Hammaker, a Rayen School graduate and former executive with Strouss-Hirshberg Co., is named president of Montgomery Ward & Co. of Chicago, the nation’s third largest retailer.

A Youngstown University freshman and his girlfriend take top honors in the teenage driver Road-e-o at Wick Park. Robert Loesch and Nancy Hambright take first place in the boys and girls competition. Robert’s younger brother, Ray, placed third among boys.

April 26, 1934: Statistics show that about 5,000 Youngstown families of nearly 20,000 people who were on relief in 1933 are now self-sustaining, many due to CWA work.

“We will have to work like troopers if the 1934 Community Fund is to reach its $225,000 goal,” says Ray G. Hagstrom, general chairman, after reporting that some expected large gifts are slow in coming in.