This day in history

Today is Wednesday, July 15, the 196th day of 2009. There are 169 days left in the year. On this date in 1971, President Richard Nixon startles the country by announcing he would visit the People’s Republic of China. In 1606, Dutch painter Rembrandt is born in Leiden, Netherlands.

In 1870, Georgia becomes the last Confederate state readmitted to the Union. In 1916, Boeing Co., originally known as Pacific Aero Products Co., is founded in Seattle.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman is nominated for another term of office by the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders U.S. Marines to Lebanon, at the request of that country’s president, Camille Chamoun, in the face of a perceived threat by Muslim rebels. (The Americans withdrew in October 1958.)

In 1964, Sen. Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona is nominated for president by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter delivers his “malaise” speech in which he lamented what he called a “crisis of confi dence” in America. In 1999, the government acknowledges for the fi rst time that thousands of workers were made sick while making nuclear weapons and announced a plan to compensate many of them.

July 15, 1984: Don L. Hanni Jr., chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, says he has no interest in attending the national convention in San Francisco, since Walter Mondale’s announcement that Geraldine Ferraro will be his running mate removes any possibility of excitement. Hanni, an at-large delegate pledged to Gary Hart, says his son, Don Hanni III, will take his place.

A group of Youngstown area business and church leaders is trying to form Mahoning County’s first minority bank.

An estimated 75,000 people are expected at the 10th annual Bavarian Fun Fest in downtown Sharon, which will include balloon races, a Revolutionary War encampment and an appearance by Jed Allen, star of the daytime soap opera, “Days of Our Lives.”

July 15, 1969: The Youngstown area United Appeal goal for 1969-70 will be $1.8 million, an increase of about $90,000 over what was raised a year earlier.

Dr. Oscar W. Knade Jr., director of the Intensive Learning Center in Philadelphia, tells a workshop on innercity education at Youngstown State University that “creative leadership can change apparently hopeless situations as it did in Philadelphia.” The superintendent hired 1,000 teachers without examinations and regardless of certification.

Cpl. Richard F. Runzo, 20, of Westville is reported killed during combat operations in Vietnam, Columbiana County’s 19th casualty of the war.

July 15, 1959: The giant steel industry, which is the heart of the Youngstown district’s economy, comes to a complete halt as 50,000 steelworkers join the nationwide steel strike.

The steel strike steel strike could cost Youngstown over $25,000 a week in lost income taxes, says Finance Director Nicholas Bernard.

Governors of the West Side Tennis Club in New York say they would give “courteous and prompt attention” to a membership application by Dr. Ralph J. Bunche or his 15-year-old son, Ralph Jr. The governors accepted the resignation of the club president, who told Bunche that he and his son are not eligible for membership because they are Negroes.

July 15, 1934: Youngstown merchants report that Opportunity Days were a huge success, better, even, than the 1933 sale. Downtown stores put hundreds of temporary clerks to work during he sale.

During a Bastille Day radio address in Paris, Capt. Rene Renault, famous French army officer, mentioned a visit to the United States during the World War and a speech he gave in Youngstown that was written up in The Vindicator.

About 3,000 Scotchmen and people of Scottish descent attend the annual picnic and Highland games at Idora Park.