Today in history

June 20, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Saturday, June 20, the 171st day of 2009. There are 194 days left in the year. On this date in 1893, a jury in New Bedford, Mass., finds Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

In 1782, Congress approves the Great Seal of the United States. In 1837, Queen Victoria accedes to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV. In 1863, West Virginia becomes the 35th state. In 1909, actor Errol Flynn is born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. In 1943, race-related rioting erupts in Detroit; federal troops are sent in two days later to quell the violence that results in more than 30 deaths. In 1947, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is shot dead at the Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, apparently at the order of mob associates.

June 20, 1984: Two escapees from the State Regional Correction Facility in Mercer, Pa., are captured near Bloomington, Ill., after four days of freedom. They were still driving a truck stolen from a farm near Mercer.

The Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. is considering buying Conrail’s Austintown Industrial Track to keep Youngstown Steel Door Co. and Ply-Trim Inc. from closing and putting more than 200 out of work.

June 20, 1969: Laura Pilz, a junior at Boardman High School, finishes third in girls extemporaneous speaking at the National Forensic League tournament on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Boardman’s team finishes fifth in the nation.

Designs are approved for the Salvation Army’s new $1.4 million citadel that is planned for S. Walnut Street between Boardman and Front streets.

June 20, 1959: Two nuns, four children and 87 other men and women become U.S. citizens during a ceremony overseen by Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge David G. Jenkins, himself a naturalized citizen, and mighty proud of it. The class of 93 represented 29 nations.

Merchants present their views on sales tax discounts, Sunday blue laws and a state fair trade act during a luncheon sponsored by the Downtown Board of Trade.

June 20, 1934: The Youngstown Chamber of Commerce selects H.R. Packard of East Chicago, Ind., as executive secretary, filling the position left vacant by the resignation of Fred A. LaBelle, who had been executive secretary since 1919.

The board of county visitors for correctional institutions declares conditions in the Youngstown City Jail are unsanitary.

Charles Deibel expects as many as 30,000 youngsters at the 11th annual Kiddies Day at Idora Park. By early morning the swimming pool was full and Playland was teeming with bodies and hundreds had already ridden the Wild Cat.