Today is Thursday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2007. There are 347 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2007. There are 347 days left in the year. On this date in 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reach the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it. (Scott and his party perish during the return trip.)
In 1778, English navigator Capt. James Cook reaches the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubs the "Sandwich Islands." In 1862, the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, dies in Richmond, Va., at age 71. In 1871, William I of Prussia is proclaimed "German Emperor" (which is not the same thing as "Emperor of Germany") in Versailles, France. In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference, held to negotiate peace treaties ending World War I, opens in Versailles, France. In 1936, author Rudyard Kipling dies in Burwash, England. In 1943, a wartime ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S. -- aimed at reducing bakeries' demand for metal replacement parts -- goes into effect.
January 18, 1982: A warming trend sweeps into the Mahoning Valley and is expected to bring temperatures approaching 20 degrees, a day after a record low of 19 below zero was set at the Youngstown Municipal Airport.
Teachers in the Leetonia School District reject a tentative contract settlement and go out on strike. Picket lines are up at all five buildings.
January 18, 1967: Struthers police, fire and sewage treatment workers call off sick again, prompting city officials to threaten to close the police and fire stations.
Gen. William C. Westmoreland announces that American forces in Vietnam suffered their highest weekly casualties of the war, with 144 men killed, 1,044 wounded and six reported missing.
More than 250 Protestants, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics worship together at Trinity Methodist Church in the first of a series of services marking the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity."
January 18, 1957: Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. moves up to fifth place among the big 10 steel companies, nosing out National Steel Corp.
Mahoning Valley industries continue to use standby fuel supplies so as to conserve natural gas for home heating during near-zero weather. Low temperatures hover near zero, up from 12 degrees below zero a day earlier.
Mary Knowles, a librarian of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., is sentenced to 120 days in jail and fined 500 for contempt of Congress after refusing to answer questions, including whether she had ever been a Communist, posed by the Senate internal security subcommittee.
January 18, 1932: Atty. W.P. Barnum is seriously considering entering the Republican primaries as a candidate for Congress opposing John G. Cooper, who is serving his ninth term.
During a meeting of department heads with Mayor Mark E. Moore, Dan Parish, water works commissioner, says that the fire department uses excessive amounts of water and suggests that the fire department, rather than the water department, pay the cost of maintaining hydrants.
Five Youngstown detectives have been assigned to exert every means necessary to apprehend the youths who slew Smith Crawford, 80-year-old feed merchant.