Today is Wednesday, Jan. 7, the seventh day of 2009. There are 358 days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 7, the seventh day of 2009. There are 358 days left in the year. On this date in 1789, the first U.S. presidential election is held. Americans vote for electors who, a month later, choose George Washington to be the nation’s first president.

In 1608, an accidental fire devastates the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia colony. In 1610, astronomer Galileo Galilei begins observing three of Jupiter’s moons. In 1800, the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, is born in Summerhill, N.Y. In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service is inaugurated between New York and London. In 1942, the Japanese siege of Bataan begins during World War II. In 1949, George C. Marshall resigns as U.S. Secretary of State, effective Jan. 20. President Harry S. Truman chooses Dean Acheson to succeed him. In 1959, the United States recognizes the new government of Cuba, six days after Fidel Castro leads the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. In 1972, Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist are sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

January 7, 1984: Sgt. Howard Faison, who battled Sheriff James A. Traficant Jr., through most of his term of office, files a race and handicap discrimination charge against the sheriff with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

The body of Blaine Searcy of Youngstown is found near Tiffin, Ohio, shot three times and left to die under a bridge. The rental car he had driven from Youngstown to Detroit is recovered at Wirt Street and Lexington Avenue, stripped of its tires, rims and battery and with three bullet holes in the windshield.

Domestic car makers reported 1983 sales of 6.7 million vehicles, an increase in sales for the first time in several years and the best figures since 1979, when sales were 8.2 million.

January 7, 1969: More than $20,000 in diamonds, cash and jewelry are stolen from the Shawnee Trail home of James Mongoris while the nightclub and television impersonator was away.

First National City Bank of New York announces an increase in its prime rate to an all-time high of 7 percent.

January 7, 1959: The Youngs-town Board of Education approves an after-school and Saturday morning program for gifted children.

Anthony DeMain Sr. and his 12-year-old son were forced to drive around the East Side at gunpoint by a gunman they surprised inside DeMain’s Royal Oaks Tavern at 924 Oak St. DeMain stopped at the tavern while driving his son, Anthony Jr., to Immaculate Conception Church, where he was to serve early Mass.

A 100-unit federal government housing project that is to be built in the Grant Street area of New Castle is advertised for construction bids. The project is estimated at $1.6 million.

January 7, 1934: Mayor Mark Moore issues an official proclamation declaring four days of “Opportunity Days,” a post-Christmas sale in downtown Youngstown.

Ohio CWA officials approve 16 more projects for Mahoning County and 13 more for Columbiana County. The Mahoning County projects will involve 711 workers and cost $144,368.

The first four of 15 new buses ordered by the Youngstown Municipal Railway Co. arrive and are put into service. All are 30-passenger Twin Coach buses and will replace 25-passenger White buses.