Today is Thursday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2006. There are 339 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2006. There are 339 days left in the year. On this date in 1788, the first European settlers in Australia, led by Capt. Arthur Phillip, land in present-day Sydney.
In 1802, Congress passes an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol. In 1837, Michigan becomes the 26th state. In 1841, Britain formally occupies Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. In 1861, Louisiana secedes from the Union. In 1870, Virginia rejoins the Union. In 1911, the Richard Strauss opera "Der Rosenkavalier" premieres in Dresden, Germany. In 1942, the first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II goes ashore in Northern Ireland. In 1950, India officially proclaims itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad takes the oath of office as president. In 1962, the United States launches Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon -- but the probe misses its target by some 22,000 miles. In 1979, former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller dies in New York at age 70.
January 26, 1981: Private financial consultants should be hired to make sense out of the fiscal problems of the Trumbull County Welfare Department, says Trumbull Commissioner Margaret Dennison.
Officials of Commuter Aircraft Corp. announce that the Society Bank of Eastern Ohio has approved a loan of $500,000 toward the construction mortgage of the aircraft assembly plant at Youngstown Municipal Airport.
Police and firefighters who have been calling in sick in Steubenville are joined by nonuniformed employees, leaving the city of 30,000 without the services of 120 members of the safety forces and 230 other municipal workers. The workers want 5 percent pay raises; city officials say there is no money.
January 26, 1966: The figure of $1,500 for the first coin-operated amusement machine was put in the new license fee ordinance just before it went to a vote, without the administration, original sponsors of the measure and at least one councilman being notified. Originally the bill called for a $15 fee.
Charles G. Burrows, 65, of Myrtle Ave., active in GOP politics and longtime secretary of the Aut Mori Grotto, dies at his residence after a long illness of a blood disorder.
Atty. Jay C. Brownlee, past president of the Mahoning County Bar Association and civic leader, is elected president of Mahoning Valley Council, Boy Scouts of American at the 53rd annual meeting at the Hotel Pick-Ohio.
January 26, 1956: Charles G. Nickles, president and general manager of the G.M. McKelvey Co. in Youngstown, speaks in Pittsburgh, inviting 175 members of the Golden Triangle Association to join in support of a Lake Erie-Ohio River canal so that both Youngstown and Pittsburgh might fully enjoy the benefits that will come from the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Youngstown City Engineer James C. Ryan appeals to City Council to act immediately on authorizing the hiring of engineers for plans for two phases of the inner belt of the proposed arterial highway system.
Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. has the best year in its 55-year history in 1955 for earnings, sales, production and shipment of steel products, President J.L. Mauthe announces. Earnings hit $1.7 million or $12.34 per share.
January 26, 1931: A squad of six patrolmen in olive-drab uniforms comprise the Mill Creek Park Police Department. Members are John Kofler, J.F. Douglas, Mert Boyle, Walter Scholl, Michael King and Edwin Baehler.
St. Joseph Church in Sharon announces that it will construct a $40,000 gymnasium and social center at the rear of the church and near the school house.
The second semester opens in the Youngstown public school system with the smallest enrollment of new students in recent years, says Superintendent Dr. J.J. Richeson, just slightly more than 1,000.