Today is Wednesday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2004. There are 44 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2004. There are 44 days left in the year. On this date in 1800, Congress holds its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.
In 1558, Elizabeth I ascends the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary. In 1869, the Suez Canal opens in Egypt. In 1917, sculptor August Rodin dies in Meudon, France. In 1925, actor Rock Hudson is born in Winnetka, Ill. In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson marries Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird." In 1962, Washington's Dulles International Airport is dedicated by President Kennedy. In 1970, the Soviet Union lands an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod I. In 1973, President Nixon tells Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla.: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
November 17, 1979: Mill Creek Park Superintendent Charles Wedkind paints a bleak financial picture for the park's Board of Commission, partly due to cutbacks in real property valuations within the Youngstown Township Park District.
The Rev. William T. Hogan, "the steel priest," flies into the Mahoning Valley to get local reaction to a plan that envisions the construction of a one-million ton a year coke battery in the Youngstown area.
Calling their crimes among the worst in his 30 years on the bench, Common Pleas Judge Clyde W. Osborne sentences two Youngstown men to a minimum of 20 years in prison for the murder and kidnapping of Elaine Poullas of Campbell.
November 17, 1964: County Commission Chairman John Palermo says that Sheriff Ray T. Davis, not the commissioners, is responsible for the neglect and deterioration of the Mahoning County Jail that led to the escape of three men from the "escape-proof" lock-up.
Youngstown Municipal Judge Don L. Hanni Jr. calls a meeting of all municipal and county court judges and police chiefs to discuss further steps to curb traffic fatalities. Hanni says drivers apprehended with just the odor of alcohol on their breath will lose their license through the end of the year.
The Youngstown Intelligence & amp; Security Squad, in cooperation with the Ohio State Pharmacy Board, launches a major crackdown on the illegal purchase of exempt narcotics.
November 17, 1954: Charges that Youngstown Mayor Frank X. Kryzan "has not recognized his responsibility to the Democratic Party from the patronage standpoint," were made by a few disgruntled Democrats at a closed meeting of the Mahoning County Democratic executive committee.
William Thomas, 32, a small-time numbers man who was injured when he jumped from a wall during a police chase, dies in St. Elizabeth Hospital. He suffered a heart attack while undergoing an operation to repair his broken leg.
Speaking at St. John's Episcopal Church, Dr. Samuel M. Shoemaker, a Pittsburgh clergyman and author, urges that small prayer groups be formed to revitalize Christianity as a bulwark against Communism.
A Civil Defense operation, "Conelrad," conducted in the wee hours of the morning in Youngstown is a flop as local radio stations either fail to receive or fail to rebroadcast a mock emergency signal.
November 17, 1929: A study of candidate expense sheets turned in following the general election shows that taxpayers and candidates spent more than $44,900 to elect 13 officials who will receive a total of $14,700 in salaries in 1930.
Youngstown has an infant mortality rate almost exactly that of other major cities in the United States. Out of every 1,000 live births, 929 Youngstown infants survive their first year.
Industrial interests from the Mahoning, Shenango and Beaver valleys meet in New Castle to revive plans of long-standing to build a canal from the upper end of the Mahoning Valley to the Ohio River, utilizing the Mahoning and Beaver rivers.