Today is Friday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2009. There are 356 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2009. There are 356 days left in the year. On this date in 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, is born in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In 1788, Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1793, Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flies between Philadelphia and Woodbury, N.J. In 1859, women’s suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt is born in Ripon, Wis. In 1861, Mississippi secedes from the Union. In 1945, during World War II, American forces begin landing at Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines. In 1959, the Western series “Rawhide” premieres on CBS-TV. In 1964, anti-U.S. rioting breaks out in the Panama Canal Zone, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and several U.S. soldiers. In 1972, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, speaking by telephone from the Bahamas to reporters in Hollywood, says a purportedly authorized biography of him by Clifford Irving is a fake.

January 9, 1984: By collecting only slightly more than 80 cents for every dollar in property taxes in 1982, Mahoning County had the worst tax delinquency rate in Ohio, a statewide watchdog group reports.

Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy could lead to possible birth defects, says the Western Reserve chapter of the March of Dimes as it continues its efforts to inform the public of potential hazards.

Thomas J. Carney is elected president of the three-member Mahoning County Board of Commissioners.

January 9, 1969: Gov. James A. Rhodes’ Governor’s Task Force on Vocational Education recommends a drastic reorganization of Ohio’s educational system, with an emphasis on vocational education and a 1 percent sales tax to finance it.

Robert E. Williams, president and CEO of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., tells the Youngstown Rotary Club that, “Our roots are here, our plants and equipment are here and here is where we are going to stay.”

Youngstown police and FBI agents press a search for a gunman who held up the North Side Branch of the Dollar Savings & Trust Co., escaping with $600. It was the third time in less than six months that the branch at 1805 Belmont Ave. was robbed.

Making a first-run at the Newport Theater, “Bullit,” starring Steve McQueen.

January 9, 1959: Because budget needs of the Youngstown Red Feather agencies in 1969 are greater than the $1.1 million raised in the Community Chest campaign, the executive committee approves using up to $50,000 from the Chest emergency reserves.

Willie Griffith, 44, of Youngstown is shot and killed during an argument over a dice game in a Mahoning Avenue home.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower challenges the heavily Democratic Congress to meet the Communist threat by living within his $77 billion budget and working toward tax relief “in the foreseeable future.”

January 9, 1934: Eugene Callan, CWA foreman in Youngstown, sends 120 men home after finding Communist literature on the job and accusing the men of holding a Communist meeting on the job. Many of the men, Callan says, were given jobs because they are related to office holders.

Between 300 and 400 temporary clerks are hired to work in downtown stores during the four-day “Opportunity Days” sale.

An 18-year-old paroled youth, who served nine months in a reformatory, led four younger boys on a robbery spree near Poland, robbing four people.

Elarka Marie Tawne, winner of the Miss Ohio beauty contest in 1925 and 1926, takes office as auditor in Conneaut. She recently married Richard Hankanson of Conneaut.