Today is Saturday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2004. There are 335 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2004. There are 335 days left in the year. On this date in 1958, the United States enters the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.
In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James I, is executed. In 1797, composer Franz Schubert is born in Vienna, Austria. In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee is named general-in-chief of all the Confederate armies. In 1917, Germany serves notice it is beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt devalues the dollar in relation to gold. In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces begin invading Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. In 1945, Private Eddie Slovik becomes the only U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he is shot by an American firing squad in France. In 1950, President Truman announces he has ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.
January 31, 1979: The Niles Classroom Teachers Association easily defeats its rival labor organization, the Niles Federation of Teachers, in a representation election., 150 to 49.
A strike by 100 members of the United Transportation Workers Union against Conrail's Goodman Yards in Lordstown is spreading to other areas of the Mahoning Valley, despite a restraining order issued by federal court against the walkout.
Dr. Thomas A. Shipka, a member of the Youngstown State University faculty, takes out candidacy petition forms at the Mahoning County Board of Elections for a possible run for mayor of Youngstown. There is speculation that Democratic Mayor J. Phillip Richley will not seek re-election, setting the stage for a primary election bloodbath involving multiple candidates.
January 31, 1964: The Rayen School's new $356,000 gymnasium is dedicated to the late Andrew M. Lindsay, principal of the school for six years.
The Rev. John Pavel, pastor of St. Mary Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church in Youngstown, marks the eighth anniversary of his release from a Communist prison camp where he was held for six years on trumped up charges of espionage.
The Youngstown Transit Co. increases individual bus fares from 30 cents to 35 cents, but will offer a 40-ticket bargain pack for $10.80.
January 31, 1954: U.S. Steel Corp. has installed a new 200-ton ingot mold stripper crane at its Ohio Works to enable the plant to handle larger steel ingots faster, says General Superintendent Laurin D. Woodworth.
Atty. Henry A. DiBlasio, a representative of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, is named Mahoning County chairman of the Crusade for Freedom, which will raise money to help spread the truth about the United States through Iron Curtain countries.
Floyd Hendricks, 51, of Leffingwell Road, dies in South Side Hospital of injuries suffered when a ram butted him against a stone wall while Hendricks was helping a neighbor. He struck his head and was taken to the hospital after complaining of a severe headache.
January 31, 1929: Union of the 5 million Methodists and 2 million Presbyterians in America seems almost assured following a conference between the denominations in Pittsburgh, and some ministers declare that an organic union of all Protestant Evangelical churches is in sight.
Testifying in the bribery trial of Ohio Treasurer Bert B. Buckley, a Cleveland lawyer says Buckley sent coded telegrams warning Cincinnati breweries of forthcoming inspections by dry agents. After the government rests its case, the defense announces that it has subpoenaed a number of character witnesses, including Carrington T. Marshall, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, and Lt. Gov. John T. Brown.
On the advice of his physician, Youngstown Mayor Joseph L. Heffernan leaves for a month of rest in Miami Beach, Fla., accompanied by his wife and their two children, David, 2, and Martha, 6.