Today is Sunday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2003. There are 346 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Sunday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2003. There are 346 days left in the year. On this date in 1853, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" (perhaps best known for its "Anvil Chorus") premieres in Rome.
In 1736, James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, is born in Scotland. In 1807, Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, is born in Stratford, Va. In 1809, author Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston. In 1861, Georgia secedes from the Union. In 1944, the federal government relinquishes control of the nation's railroads following settlement of a wage dispute. In 1955, a presidential news conference is filmed for television for the first time, with permission from President Eisenhower. In 1966, Indira Gandhi is elected prime minister of India. In 1970, President Nixon nominates G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court; however, the nomination is defeated because of controversy over Carswell's past racial views. In 1977, in one of his last acts of office, President Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American who'd made wartime broadcasts for Japan. In 1981, the United States and Iran sign an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.
January 19, 1978: President Carter will nominate William H. Webster, a Missouri Republican and federal appellate judge, to be the next FBI director, succeeding Clarence M. Kelley.
Economist James Dawson, senior vice president of National City Bank of Cleveland, presents a bright outlook at the annual Economic Forecast meeting of the Salem Chamber of Commerce.
Donald S. Lupo is named manager of the Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & amp; Smith Inc. office in City Centre One in downtown Youngstown.
Parents of students who attend McKinley Elementary School in Salem begin to keep their children home so they won't suffer possible injury in the deteriorating building.
The body of a 16-year-old Youngstown girl, who was last seen by her family Dec. 21 leaving for classes at North High school, is found in an old barn at 660 Early Road. Lynetta Reynolds attended all her classes that day and then disappeared.
January 19, 1963: Mahoning Juvenile Court Judge Harold S. Rickert Sr. asks Mahoning County commissioners to save the abandoned county home site on Herbert Road for possible use as a residential treatment center for delinquent children.
State liquor agents and city police raid the Golden Nugget Night Club, 2326 Hillman St. and arrest the barmaid for serving an alcoholic beverage to a minor.
Youngstown Law Director Russel G. Mock will ask the county prosecutor to investigate charges that a subcontractor on the city's sewage disposal plant project tried to bribe a union agent during a dispute over work agreements.
January 19, 1953: Mahoning County Commissioner Edward J. Gilronan says he believes the courthouse custodial staff could be "cut in two" without cutting down the work output. Gilronan says he has compared the custodial costs of the courthouse with four other downtown buildings and found the county is paying far too much.
The sprawling Ravenna arsenal is closed by a strike that idles 4,200 workers as negotiations between three unions and management break down.
Orland K. Armstrong, Republican congressman from the Sixth Missouri District, will be the principal speaker at the annual banquet of the Mahoning Valley McKinley Club at the McKinley Memorial in Niles.
January 19, 1928: A secret campaign in which all the law enforcement agencies of the city and county will take part to cut drinking among children of school age is opened during a conference at Mahoning County juvenile court.
Architect Paul Boucherle calls for modification of the city's plumbing code, which bans the use of steel pipe. Boucherle drew up the plans for Hayes Junior High School, on which work has been halted because of the installation of steel pipe.
Thomas Moyers, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Moyers, 743 McMyler Ave., Warren, dies in Riverside Hospital of burns sustained when his clothing caught fire from a gas heater under a hot water tank in the basement.
Albert Polchak, 12, of Henry St. is rescued from drowning by Leo N. Sigler, district representative for The Vindicator. Sigler saw the boy fall through thin ice on a creek near Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. and rushes to the boy with a tow rope from his car.