Today is Thursday, June 30, the 182nd day of 2016

Today is Thursday, June 30, the 182nd day of 2016. There are 184 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin walks back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watch.

1865: Eight people, including Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd, are convicted by a military commission of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.

1936: The Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell is first published by The Macmillan Co. in New York.

1963: Pope Paul VI is crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.

1985: Thirty-nine American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner are freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.

2006: A tired-sounding Osama bin Laden praises slain Iraq insurgent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an audiotape. .

2015: A tough-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launches his 2016 campaign for president with a promise to tell voters the truth “whether you like it or not, or whether it makes you cringe every once in a while or not.”

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: A Black Muslin security agency that has had success patrolling a privately owned New Castle housing development, is attracting interest from the Lawrence County Housing Authority, which wants to know if the group is interested in patrolling 10 county developments.

Responding to a four-month-old lawsuit filed by a California auto dealer, the Cafaro Co. says it has no corporate or financial responsibility for the Avanti Automotive Corp., the troubled Youngstown automaker headed by J.J. Cafaro.

Youngstown State University’s Outreach program offers a 96-hour basic EMT class over the summer for students interested in becoming emergency medical technicians.

1976: Gov. James A. Rhodes cuts a ribbon dedicating a $2.7 million waste water treatment plant at the General Motors Packard Electric Division’s huge North River Road facility. The plant is considered a significant step in further cleaning up the Mahoning River.

A 30-acre parcel of the Seidner Farm at Western Reserve Road and Market Street Extension, the last major piece of undeveloped land on Market Street in Boardman Township, will be the site of a multimillion-dollar commercial and residential development.

Paul Harris tosses a one-hitter, and Rocko Mediate drills three hits to lead Italian Bakery to a 10-0 victory over Red Barn in Midget Athletic Boosters play.

1966: The old Proctor home in Boardman is burned to make room for the $16 million shopping plaza planned by William Cafaro & Associates across from Boardman High School.

Youngstown Fifth Ward Councilman Jack C. Hunter proposes a “Little Hoover Commission” to pursue renovation of public facilities in blighted areas of the city.

Vandals on a rampage through Union Cemetery in Niles topple a dozen tombstones in the older section of the cemetery.

1941: Draft registration continues, having been extended to all men who have reached 21 years of age. Approximately 2,000 are expected to register in Mahoning County.

Capt. Alton N. Parker, famous Arctic and Antarctic pilot who accompanied Adm. Richard Byrd to the North Pole, arrives in Youngstown and will participate in the dedication of the new municipal airport.

Ignace Jan Paderewski, the first president of the Polish Republic and one of the greatest pianists of all time, dies in New York. Paderewski had performed in Youngstown in 1916 and 1924.