This day in history

Today is Monday, July 6, the 187th day of 2009. There are 178 days left in the year. On this date in 1944, an estimated 168 people die in a fire that breaks out during a performance in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn. (Among the survivors are future actor Charles Nelson Reilly, then age 13.)

In 1535, St. Thomas More is executed in England for high treason. In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. In 1809, French troops arrest Pope Pius VII, who had excommunicated Emperor Napoleon I. In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully tests an anti-rabies vaccine on a boy who had been bitten by an infected dog. In 1917, during World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi capture the port of Aqaba from the Turks. In 1957, Althea Gibson becomes the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2. In 1988, 167 North Sea oil workers are killed when a series of explosions and fires destroy a drilling platform.

July 6, 1984: Mahoning Valley prosecutors and defense attorneys are cheering and jeering a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reverses a 70-year-old trend to throw out any evidence that was illegally obtained.

Michael Jackson announces his “Victory Tour” itinerary, which will include October stops in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

July 6, 1969: John F. Hynes, director and retired chairman of Hynes Steel Products, and his wife, Loretta, give $150,000 toward the St. Elizabeth Hospital’s building program.

Perhaps a dozen prospective candidates are already looking at the seat held by U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan for 33 years. Kirwan has announced he will not seek re-election.

People living in Youngstown and the surrounding area reported income totaling $1.4 billion on their 1966 income tax returns, a new Internal Revenue Service publication shows.

July 6, 1959: A 15-year-old South Side youth is picked up as he fired firecrackers at the rear of the ballroom at Idora Park, one of a number of area residents involved in Fourth of July firecracker incidents. Five people were injured in fireworks mishaps.

Mahoning County commissioners take the final steps in getting Austintown a much-needed boost in water pressure, awarding $500,000 contracts for water lines, a booster station and a water tower.

July 6, 1934: Damage is estimated at $60,000 in a fire that swept through the Oles Market and at one time threatened the entire business block bounded by Central Square, Market, Boardman, Phelps and Federal streets.

The Ohio Utilities commission orders Ohio Bell Telephone Co. to make refunds of more than $12 million for overcharging customers. About $1.5 million will be made to Youngstown area subscribers.

Police say a strong suspect in the brutal slaying of night watchman Ernie McLean at the Thombs Bros. garage has apparently fled the city.