Today in history

July 1, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Wednesday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2009. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day. On this date in 1867, Canada becomes a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act takes effect.

In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game takes place in Pittsfield, Mass., between teams from Williams College and Amherst College. (Amherst wins the nearly four-hour, 26-inning contest by the score of 73-32.) In 1863, the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, begins in Pennsylvania. In 1934, Hollywood begins enforcing its Production Code subjecting motion pictures to censorship review. In 1946, the United States explodes a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In 1959, the controversial motion picture “Anatomy of a Murder,” starring James Stewart, is released. In 1969, Britain’s Prince Charles is formally invested as the Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. In 1980, “O Canada” is proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.

July 1, 1984: Local police believe that raising the drinking age nationwide to 21 will do little to curb drunken driving and several Youngstown area bar owners who cater to the 19- to 21-year-old crowd fear they may be forced out of business.

Ida Barnes, chairman of the Mahoning County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunken Driving, accuses Mahoning Prosecutor Vincent E. Gilmartin of “ducking” a debate with his challenger, Gary VanBrocklin.

July 1, 1969: The Youngstown Board of Education sets a general operating budget of $22.6 million for 1970, including a payment of $1.2 million on its debt.

C.C. Kaiser & Son Inc. of Canfield will build a 136-unit low-rent public housing apartment for the elderly on Commonwealth Avenue near the McGuffey Plaza.

Mahoning County Auditor Stephen R. Olenick has ordered his department closed every Saturday in July and August, which is being interpreted as a move to get other officeholders to go along and to eventually join several courthouses throughout the state that are not open for a half day of business on Saturdays.

July 1, 1959: A gasoline explosion at the Central Square Garage kills Benjamin H. Sherwood, 56, an electrician, and injures four other men who were mopping up from another explosion a few hours earlier.

Mahoning and Trumbull county commissioners will meet with the Army engineers to discuss local financing for the proposed West Branch Reservoir.

Common Pleas Judge Frank J. Battisti dismisses an embezzlement indictment against County Judge Harold Rickert saying Rickert’s record keeping was negligent and “bordered on stupidity” but did not constitute embezzlement.

July 1, 1934: The Stambaugh Scout Reservation opens its summer camp, with three stockades, one for Tenderfoot and 2nd Class scouts, one for First Class Scouts and one for Life Scouts.

Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Youngstown is the subject of a cover page photo and a write-up in Modern Cemetery magazine.

An $18,000 CWA project is approved by the grading of Calvary Run Road, which will provide a West Side entrance to Mill Creek Park.