Today is Friday, May 1, the 121st day of 2009. There are 244 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, May 1, the 121st day of 2009. There are 244 days left in the year. On this date in 1909, Walter Reed General Hospital (later a part of Walter Reed Army Medical Center) in Washington, D.C., admits its first patients.

In 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain is created as a treaty merging England and Scotland takes effect. In 1786, Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro” premieres in Vienna. In 1884, construction begins on the first skyscraper, a 10-story structure in Chicago built by the Home Insurance Co. of New York. In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition opens to the public in Chicago. In 1898, Commodore George Dewey gives the command, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley,” as an American naval force destroys a Spanish squadron in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. In 1931, New York’s 102-story Empire State Building is dedicated. In 1960, the Soviet Union shoots down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane near Sverdlovsk and captures its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. In 1963, James W. Whittaker becomes the first American to conquer Mount Everest as he and a Sherpa guide reach the summit. In 1978, Ernest Morial is inaugurated as the first black mayor of New Orleans. In 1982, the World’s Fair opens in Knoxville, Tenn. In 1999, Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic agrees to hand over three captured U.S. soldiers to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Despite protests, the National Rifle Association holds its annual meeting in Denver 11 days after the Columbine shootings. The Liberty Bell 7, the Mercury space capsule flown by Gus Grissom, is found in the Atlantic 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., 38 years after it sinks.

May 1, 1984: It would be cheaper to use alternative sentencing programs for most criminals than haul them through the criminal justice system, according to research by Terry Buss, head of Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban Studies.

Michael Pope, Mahoning County treasurer, says that for only the second time in 20 years, county taxpayers exceeded the amount charged for a tax collection, paying $32.5 million on a charge of $31.9 million.

Michael F. Colley, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, tells members of 10 Republican clubs meeting at Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Center, that the re-election of President Ronald Reagan in 1984 is vital to reducing government and assuring national defense.

May 1, 1969: The Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority receives 12 bids for erection of a second high-rise apartment building for the low-income elderly. Two offer sites downtown. Bids range from $1.9 million to $2.4 million.

Sheriff Ray T. Davis formally asks county Prosecutor Vincent E. Gilmartin to file a declaratory judgment in Common Pleas Court to determine which union represents deputies in Davis’ department.

A flimflam team fleeces Alexander Williams, treasurer of Gospel Baptist Temple Church in Campbell, of $5,000 from the church building fund.

Roderic B. MacDonald, widely known in district music and drama circles, will replace Milton Cross as narrator for the Oratorio “King David” when the Youngstown Symphony Society has its final concert at Stambaugh Auditorium.

May 1, 1959: A wildcat strike by about 500 workers at General Fireproofing Co.’s plant in Youngs-town brings a halt to inventory taking. The workers walked out in a dispute over the wages being paid for inventory work.

More than 100 paintings of American life done by Junior Red Cross members are on display downtown and at suburban shopping districts before being sent to schools abroad.

May 1, 1934: Youngstown’s slum elimination board says meetings in Washington with PWA housing officials were “highly satisfactory.”

A sales tax whittled from one percent to a half percent is the core of an Ohio General Assembly plan to raise $26 million for schools and subdivisions.

The Mahoning clerk of courts reports sales of 458 automobiles and 61 trucks in April, more than triple the sales for the same month a year earlier.

The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools announces that Chaney High School in Youngstown was listed by mistake as one of the Ohio high schools warned that its program didn’t meet academic requirements.