Today in history

Today is Saturday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2013. There are 66 days left in the year.

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On this date in:

1774: The First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia.

1825: The Erie Canal opens in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

1861: The legendary Pony Express officially ceases operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph. (The last run of the Pony Express was completed the following month.)

1881: The “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” takes place in Tombstone, Ariz.

1911: “The Queen of Gospel,” singer and civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson, is born in New Orleans.

1942: Japanese planes badly damage the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during World War II. (The Hornet sank early the next morning.)

1949: President Harry S. Truman signs a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour.

1958: Pan American Airways flies its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in 8 hours and 41 minutes.

1972: National security adviser Henry Kissinger declares, “Peace is at hand” in Vietnam.

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1988: Agents from the FBI and state and city police launch a massive drug raid in New Castle, arresting 73 people, including some who are connected to trafficking in heroin that originates in Detroit.

The Ohio Department of Corrections says it doesn’t matter how Warren residents vote, the state intends to build a prison in the city.

The Ohio Supreme Court, sitting in Youngstown, hears arguments on the constitutionality of the removal of disabled Thomas R. Battin as a Trumbull County commissioner.

1973: Al Jackson, 62, of Poland, noted musician, prominent figure in sports and booking agent for Idora Park, dies of a heart attack after collapsing at the park.

John Maluso, principal of Chaney High School, and Mike Mitchell, principal of Wilson, say their teams will not take the field for a night football game at the request of parents, players and boosters. Superintendent Robert Pegues has ordered that the game be played.

1963: Two Newton Falls men are among four men suspected in embezzling $1,000 in tolls from the Streetsboro Interchange of the Ohio Turnpike.

Youngstown Racketeer Joey Naples asks the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn his conviction on charges of receiving stolen goods and promoting a numbers game because the search warrant used to search his home at 605 Carlotta Drive was defective.

Sharon Steel Corp. reports third quarter earnings of $129,000 on income of $31.9 million.

1938: A capacity crowd of 4,100 jams Stambaugh Auditorium for the debate between U.S. Sen. Robert Bulkley, D., and his challenger, Republican Robert A. Taft, son of the former president. It was the fourth in a series of six debates that center on the New Deal.

A 40-year-old Center Street man found smoking a marijuana cigarette at Center and Lawrence streets leads Youngstown police to a quantity of marijuana concealed in a trunk in his room. He is charged with violating the Federal Narcotics Act.

Dewi Jones, boy soprano, internationally known as a famous chorister in the Church of England, will sing at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Niles.