Today is Friday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2008. There are 355 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2008. There are 355 days left in the year. On this date in 1908, the Grand Canyon National Monument is created with a proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt. (It becomes a national park in 1919.)

In 1805, the Michigan Territory is created by an act of Congress. In 1815, Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, is born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1861, Alabama secedes from the Union. In 1913, the first sedan-type automobile, a Hudson, goes on display at the 13th Automobile Show in New York. In 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart begins a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., that makes her the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. In 1942, Japan declares war against the Netherlands, the same day that Japanese forces invade the Dutch East Indies. In 1943, the United States and Britain sign treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.

January 11, 1983: Layoff letters are being prepared by the Vukovich administration for 80 employees in three major departments, police, health and parks and recreation.

Michael Del Bane of Hubbard resigns from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio only to be renamed chairman hours later by Gov. Richard F. Celeste.

More than 9,000 welfare recipients in Mahoning County will be required to work for their public assistance benefits under Ohio’s workfare program, county Welfare Director Ezell Armour tells county commissioners.

January 11, 1968: Youngstown City Council orders the city’s health, police, law and engineering departments to cooperate on a solution to the growing problem of illegal dumping on private and public property.

A 22-year-old coed at Youngs–town State University is abducted by a robber from a store where she was working and raped in the alcove of Greater Friendship Baptist Church on Lakewood Avenue.

Trustees at Youngstown State University empower university officials to mete out suspensions, dismissals or take other legal action as may be required to deal with students or faculty members causing demonstrations that disrupt classes.

January 11, 1958: The Youngs-town district’s basic steel plants, capable of producing over 11 million tons of steel ingots annually, and their 55,000 basic steel workers are getting their fair share of available steel orders, despite lagging national operations.

Atty. Harold S. Rickert is recommended for a second four-year term as a Democratic member of the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

January 11, 1933: Helen Josephine Madden of 30 S. Pearl St. wins the $5,000 grand prize in the Atwater-Kent radio contest by forming the most words from the letters in “Atwater-Kent tonebeam.” The number of words in her winning entry has not yet been released.

Iron and steel operations in the Youngstown district advance slightly to reach 20 percent of capacity, the highest level in three months.