Years Ago

Today is Sunday, July 26, the 207th day of 2009. There are 158 days left in the year. On this date in 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte orders creation of a force of special agents that is a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1775, Benjamin Franklin becomes America’s first Postmaster-General. In 1856, playwright Bernard Shaw is born in Dublin, Ireland. In 1945, Winston Churchill resigns as Britain’s prime minister after his Conservatives are soundly defeated by the Labour Party. (Clement Attlee becomes the new prime minister.) In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act, which establishes the National Military Establishment (later renamed the Department of Defense). In 1952, Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, dies in Buenos Aires at age 33. In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal. In 1971, Apollo 15 is launched from Cape Kennedy on America’s fourth manned mission to the moon. In 1986, kidnappers in Lebanon release the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. In 1989, Mark Wellman, a 29-year-old paraplegic, reaches the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park after hauling himself up the granite cliff 6 inches at a time over nine days.

July 26, 1984: Columbiana County commissioners vote to take bids on the demolition of several buildings near the county courthouse, which will make way for construction of an annex.

President Reagan launches a sharp political counter attack against his Democratic opponent, saying Walter Mondale is so far to the left that he’s “left America.”

Youngstown Health Commissioner Neil Altman vows he will not quit his post regardless of the outcome of a 10-day cooling off period set by the Youngstown Board of Health. Mayor Patrick Ungaro, president of the board, declines to specify the disagreements between Altman and the board.

July 26, 1969: Stephen Olenick, Mahoning County auditor and former state senator, calls on former astronaut John Glenn to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Ohio.

Mahoning County and Mill Creek Park will appeal cuts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in state revenue that were approved by the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.

Mayor Anthony B. Flask says he will ask city council to appropriate $5,000 to help finance general operations of the Mahoning Valley Regional Mass Transit Authority.

July 26, 1959: Youngstown has more than $52 million in property owned by government entities, churches and charities that is untaxed, an examination of county records shows.

It would cost Youngstown almost $3 million extra to install a new type of sludge disposal system at its $10 million sewage treatment plant, and engineers say that while the cost of operation would be lower, the savings would not offset the higher construction cost.

The first statewide Orchard and Field Crops Day to be held at the experimental farm on Rt. 46 in Canfield is expected to draw 1,500 farmers and orchardists.

July 26, 1934: Hugh Hindman, Youngstown finance director, says city employees will find themselves paid up in full for the first time in more than a year. The current municipal pay will include back-payment for the last month and a half.

The Youngstown Lodge of the Elks presents a gift of $500 to Sarah G. Williams, matron of the Youngstown Fresh Air Camp

As the heat wave continues, attendance records at Youngstown city pools are broken. Almost 7,000 children take advantage of 10-cent bathing privileges at the city’s four pools.