Today is Saturday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2009. There are 348 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2009. There are 348 days left in the year. On this date in 1961, in his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against the rise of “the military-industrial complex.”

In 1562, French Protestants are recognized under the Edict of St. Germain. In 1893, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, dies in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70; Hawaii’s monarchy is overthrown as a group of businessmen and sugar planters force Queen Lili’uokalani to abdicate. In 1917, the United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. In 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberate Warsaw during World War II; Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews, disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody. In 1946, the United Nations Security Council holds its first meeting, in London. In 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 carrying four unarmed hydrogen bombs crashes on the Spanish coast. (Three of the bombs are quickly recovered, but the fourth isn’t recovered until April.) In 1977, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, 36, is shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in the first U.S. execution in a decade. In 1989, five children are shot to death at the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, Calif., by a drifter, Patrick Purdy, who then kills himself. In 1994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Southern California, killing at least 72 people. In 1995, more than 6,000 people are killed when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 devastates the city of Kobe, Japan.

January 17, 1984: A group of Greater Youngstown community leaders meet at St. John’s Episcopal Church and take the first step toward organizing annual leadership conferences to map long-term recovery goals and strategies for the city.

Noreen Brown, formerly of Canfield, will reopen the former A.C. Cook Chevrolet dealership in Canfield as Cardinal Chevrolet, making her only the second woman in Ohio to hold a new car dealership franchise.

Syndicated Columnist Ellen Goodman will open Youngstown State University’s winter quarter Special Lectures Series.

January 17, 1969: A new 1,000-seat motion picture theater to be constructed in Southern Park Mall by the Edward J. DeBartolo Co. has been leased to Youngstown Enterprises Inc., which operates eight theaters in the area.

Trustees of the Reuben McMillan Free Library Association approves an operating budget of $1.2 million for 1969.

Ronald Glass, manager of the Youngstown Municipal Airport for 10 years, has been offered a position with the Reading, Pa., Airport Authority.

January 17, 1959: Three New Castle firemen are injured by a flash explosion during a fire at a South Side service station. Louis Invanella is in fair condition in New Castle Hospital. Released after treatment were John L. Sullivan and Walter Michaljko.

Youngstown District congressmen are on several important committees in the new Congress. U.S. Rep. Michael Kirwan remains on the Appropriations Committee, where his seniority will make him chairman of important subcommittees. Rep. Wayne Hayes of Flushing will again be on the Foreign Relations Committee.

January 17, 1934: Loans and grants of $281,000 for Milton Dam repairs and building storm sewers in Youngstown are approved by the Public Works Administration in Washington.

Permits for the sale of hard liquor or wine by the glass are granted to three Youngstown hotels, the Hotel Ohio, the Tod House and the Hotel Youngstown. Four others are denied, including one for the New Hotel Vanier.