Years Ago

Today is Tuesday, July 26, the 207th day of 2011. There are 158 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1775: Benjamin Franklin becomes America’s first postmaster-general.

1847: The western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declares its independence.

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.

1952: Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, dies in Buenos Aires at age 33.

1971: Apollo 15 is launched from Cape Kennedy on America’s fourth manned mission to the moon.

1986: Kidnappers in Lebanon release the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months.

American Statesman W. Averell Harriman dies in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., at age 94.

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 six inches at a time over nine days.

1990: President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986: Area officials are brimming with optimism about the U.S. Department of Energy’s preliminary approval of funding for a $235 million coal liquification plant in Warren.

The West Avenue Bridge over the Mahoning River is closed to traffic due to deterioration, the latest of 14 city bridges to be put out of use.

A 25-year-old Youngs-town man who was involved in an altercation at Borts Pool is sentenced to five days in jail by Judge Lloyd R. Haynes and ordered to stay away from Borts Pool.

1971: UAW Local 1112’s new headquarters building is dedicated Reuther Memorial Hall as a tribute to former UAW President Walter Reuther. Among the speakers are Gov. John J. Gilligan, Leonard Woodcock, UAW president, and Victor Reuther, brother of Walter.

The Republic Steel Corp. reports net income for the second quarter is up 73 percent to $18 million over the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

Pianist Van Cliburn and violinist Itzhak Perlman perform with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival.

1961: An organization dedicated to seek a homesite memorial for William Holmes McGuffey, who compiled the McGuffey Readers, is formed at a meeting at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

The Youngstown Board of Education approves $326,000 for a fieldhouse-gymnasium that will seat 1,000 at Rayen School.

1936: Two former Youngstowners, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Britt, are believed to be among 161 Americans trapped in the U.S. Embassy in Madrid during the battle between rebels and Spanish forces.

A reduction of nearly $4 in the per capita cost of operation of general departments of Youngstown government and schools was recorded during 1935 as compared to the previous year. The per capita cost stands at $27.34, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Eleanor Holm Jarrett, 22-year-old U.S. swimming star removed from the U.S. Olympic team on charges of drinking and breaking curfew, strikes out at the American Olympic committee, saying at least 100 others broke rules aboard the ocean liner Manhattan en route to the 11th Olympic games and some officers of the committee disgraced themselves during a skit performed for the athletes.