YEARS AGO FOR JULY 7

Today is Sunday, July 7, the 188th day of 2019. There are 177 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1846: U.S. annexation of California is proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.

1865: Four people are hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.

1898: The United States annexes Hawaii.

1937: The Second Sino-Japanese War erupts into full-scale conflict as Imperial Japanese forces attack the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing.

1948: Six female U.S. Navy reservists become the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.

1954: Elvis Presley makes his radio debut as Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ plays his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”

1963: A Navy jet fighter from Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Pennsylvania crashes into a picnic area, killing seven people; the pilot, who ejected, survives.

1969: Canada’s House of Commons gives final approval to the Official Languages Act, making French equal to English throughout the national government.

1975: The daytime drama “Ryan’s Hope” premieres on ABC-TV.

1976: President Gerald R. Ford and the first lady host a White House dinner for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The United States Military Academy at West Point includes female cadets for the first time as 119 women join the Class of 1980.

1981: President Ronald Reagan announces he is nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1990: The first “Three Tenors” concert takes place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras perform amid the brick ruins of Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the World Cup championship.

2004: Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay is indicted on criminal charges related to the energy company’s collapse. (Lay was later convicted of fraud and conspiracy, but died in July 2006 before he could be sentenced.)

2009: Some 20,000 people gather inside Staples Center in Los Angeles for a memorial service honoring the late Michael Jackson, who is tearfully described by his 11-year-old daughter, Paris-Michael, as “the best father you could ever imagine.”

2014: Washington state issues its first retail marijuana licenses.

Pope Francis begs forgiveness in his first meeting with Catholics sexually abused by members of the clergy and vows to hold bishops responsible for their handling of pedophile priests.

2018: After two days of talks in North Korea’s capital, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he has commitments for new discussions on denuclearization, but North Korea says Pompeo’s visit has been “regrettable” and that the United States is making “gangster-like” demands.

VINDICATOR FILES

1994: The Water Regionalization Committee is studying possible options to consolidate water service in the Mahoning Valley, treating water distribution much as the way electricity is sold.

Wolfgang L. Jansen, former co-chairman of Sharon Steel Corp., pleads guilty to bank fraud for floating worthless checks and getting money through questionable loans.

Devin Wilkes Jr., 7, enlists the help of Harold Bailey, “The Friendly Trapper,” in rescuing a wild rabbit that had been pierced by an arrow. Bailey says he will allow the animal to become acclimated to captivity, then remove the arrow, disinfect the wound and release the animal into woods near his North Lima home when it’s healed.

1979: The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant at Port Clinton, Ohio, shut down in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident, will be producing electricity again by the end of the week.

The Rev. William F. Brosend II, son of the Rev. and Mrs. William F. Brosend of Western Reserve Baptist Church, is ordained to the ministry and will serve as pastor of North Hills Community Baptist Church in suburban Pittsburgh.

Coming to the Brothers 3 Restaurant and Lounge at the Sheraton Inn-Shenango, TV and recording star Ricky Nelson.

1969: Herbert Strawbridge, president of the Higbee Co., tells about 130 Youngstown business leaders that the company taking over the G.M. McKelvey Co. believes in the Youngstown community and will be an active participant in civic affairs.

The Pesce Bakery team from Warren wins the Penn-Ohio Amateur Golf League championship. On the team: Joe Campana Sr., Jack Ayers, Don Howells, Dr. Richard Cannon, Lalu Sabatin Leo Zampedro and Dave McMullen.

Kay Goldsmith is crowned Miss Niles at the annual July Fourth celebration in Waddell Park. Becky Slane and Pamela Rummell are runners-up.

1944: Three men escape with $4,103 that was in a bag they grabbed from Elizabeth Burton as she was leaving the South Side branch of City Trust and Savings Bank. She was taking the money to her father, who owns a cafe on Market Street.

A suit brought by Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 2, seeking to void the Youngstown anti-gambling ordinances, is dismissed by Judge David Jenkins, who held that the ordinances are valid.

The death toll in the greatest circus fire in history tops 150 at Jartford, Conn., with the majority of the victims being women or children. Members of the Flying Wallendas described the horror they witnessed from their high wire as the fire broke out and climbed up the canvass walls of the big top.