Today in history

Today is Thursday, May 28, the 148th day of 2009. There are 217 days left in the year. On this date in 1934, the Dionne quintuplets — Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne — are born to Elzire Dionne at the family farm in Ontario, Canada.

In 1533, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid. In 1863, the first black regiment from the North leaves Boston to fight in the Civil War. In 1892, the Sierra Club is organized in San Francisco. In 1918, the Battle of Cantigny begins during World War I as American troops capture the French town from the Germans. In 1929, the first all-color talking picture, “On with the Show,” opens in New York. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushes a button in Washington signaling that vehicular traffic could begin crossing the just-opened Golden Gate Bridge in California. Neville Chamberlain becomes prime minister of Britain. In 1959, the U.S. Army launches Able, a rhesus monkey, and Baker, a squirrel monkey, aboard a Jupiter missile for a suborbital flight which both primates survive.

May 28, 1984: Students in a shop class at Chaney High School attempt to put out a fire in an outside storage building with fire extinguishers but abandon the effort when the fire gets too hot. Firefighters who had been summoned arrive and finish the job.

The unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony that caps the Memorial Day weekend observances.

Dr. Neil D. Humphrey is assuming the presidency of Youngstown State University a month ahead of schedule after trustees are told former president John Coffelt was granted disability retirement retroactive to March 24.

May 28, 1969: “President Nixon is turning to the principles of the late Ohio U.S. Sen. Robert A. Taft in framing his best new programs,” U.S. Sen. Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. of Maryland tells a Mahoning County Republican fund-raising dinner at the Mural Building.

Documents consummating the merger of Lykes Corp. of New Orleans and Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. into the newly formed Lykes-Youngstown Corp. are filed in Delaware, Louisiana and Ohio.

Joseph “Little Joey” Naples, Youngstown rackets figure convicted in 1962, will return to the Ohio Penitentiary to resume serving time. Naples was convicted of receiving stolen property and promoting a game of chance, but was freed twice on writs of habeas corpus while his lawyers pursued appeals.

May 28, 1959: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. will rebuild its 94-oven coke battery at the Brier Hill plant, vice president of operations W.H. Yeckley announces.

A long steel strike would have unfortunate effects on steelworkers and their families, although it would not necessarily hurt steel consumers, says Charles M. White, chairman and CEO of Republic Steel Corp. in New York. The companies have enough inventory to meet most orders for three months, says White.

Well organized community action is vital to the success of any renewal program in major cities, says Prof. Maynard Krueger of the University of Chicago, speaking at a conference sponsored by more than 40 civic organizations at Hotel Pick-Ohio.

May 28, 1934: Crowds of young and old number nearly 10,000 for opening day at Idora Park. Turon’s Dog Show and California Frank’s Rodeo are among the attractions.

A year behind schedule, a huge swarm of 17-year locusts returns to Wick Park, and the trees and earth are thick with the pests or their discarded shells.

Warren police raid Jim Munsene’s “Hollywood Gardens” and arrest six men playing roulette.

Police are attempting to identify a young man of about 21 who drowned after diving in Lake Glacier near the dam. Four boys saw him dive in but not surface. Firemen who were summoned found the body with grappling hooks after about a half hour.

Marcus L. Burris, 62, widely known South High School teacher and poet, who had two books of verse published, dies at Bashline Hospital, Grove City, Pa.