Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2005. There are 318 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, American troops land on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur leads a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates. In 1862, during the Civil War, some 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrender at Fort Donelson, Tenn. (Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's victory earns him the nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant.") In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized in New York City. In 1918, Lithuania proclaims its independence. In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutan-khamen's recently unearthed tomb is unsealed in Egypt. In 1959, Fidel Castro becomes premier of Cuba after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. In 1968, the nation's first 911 emergency telephone system is inaugurated, in Haleyville, Ala. In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men are killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident. In 1994, at least 217 people are killed when a powerful earthquake shakes Indonesia's Sumatra island. In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus trying to land in fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashes, killing all 196 people on board and six people on the ground.
February 16, 1980: Eleven employees of the Youngstown Steel Corp., the first company in the CASTLO Industrial Park, receive their first pay checks. The company hopes to employ 300 workers within three years.
A two-alarm fire guts the interior of the Little Bits Lounge in the New Park Burlesque Theater building on W. Federal Street in Youngstown.
Five inches of snow, the heaviest of the season, covers Youngstown, causing the death of one shoveler and numerous traffic accidents.
February 16, 1965: Record earnings for the fiscal year ended Oct. 21, 1964, are shown in the annual report of Commercial Shearing and Stamping Co. Net profits were $2.3 million on sales of $36.5 million, or $4.29 a share.
Nat "King" Cole, the preacher's son whose easy, mellow singing style made him one of the great figures in popular American music, dies of cancer at 45.
John P. Powers withdraws as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor, leaving only Mayor Anthony B. Flask and former Mayor Frank R. Franko in the race.
February 16, 1955: Engineering proposals that Struthers and Campbell form a joint sewage disposal district at a savings of $750,000 over 30 years is turned down by Struthers officials who say their constituents are opposed to any merger with Campbell.
A spectacular fire caused by an overheated furnace destroys First Methodist Church of Sebring, the oldest church in the city. Loss is estimated at $125,000.
The Romanian Central Committee of the Mahoning Valley presents a check for $300 to aid the cause of Radio Free Europe and the Crusade for Freedom.
February 16, 1930: The new $23,600 Breadan family branch of the Reuben McMillan Free Library opens for East Side residents on Jackson Street. A bequest of Nancy Breadan, prominent Youngstowner, formed the nucleus for the building fund.
William "Red" Crowell of Sharon, star center on Coach John Lawther's Westminster College basketball team, is averaging five goals a game in his fourth year on the Titan team. Crowell also won letters in football and track, sings in the glee club, plays clarinet in the school orchestra and takes part in dramatic plays.
Living costs in Youngstown are about equal to the average living costs in the United States, the comprehensive industrial survey of the district by the industrial development department of Allied Power & amp; Light Co. shows.