Today is Friday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2009. There are 342 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2009. There are 342 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, North Korea seizes the Navy intelligence ship USS Pueblo, charging its crew with being on a spying mission. (The crew is released 11 months later.)

In 1789, Georgetown University is established in present-day Washington, D.C. In 1845, Congress decides all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 1943, critic Alexander Woollcott suffers a fatal heart attack during a live broadcast of the CBS radio program “People’s Platform.” In 1950, the Israeli Knesset approves a resolution affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In 1964, the 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, is ratified. In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War. In 1989, surrealist artist Salvador Dali dies in his native Figueres, Spain, at age 84. In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign; he is later slain. In 2005, former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson dies in Malibu, Calif., at age 79.

January 23, 1984: Rand Becker, special projects director for Youngstown Public Schools, notes that few new teachers are joining the city schools teaching staff. The average experience for Youngstown teachers is 27 years.

The VIP Bar & Grill and Hughes Provision Co. downtown will be razed to make way for a landscaped parking lot.

Bishop William A. Hughes of Covington, Ky., will return to Youngstown to celebrate a Mass at St. Columba Cathedral to mark the 25th anniversary of Cardinal Mooney High School. He was the school’s first principal.

Dr. W. Robert Kennedy is named director of medical education at St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center.

January 23, 1969: The battle for control of Sharon Steel Corp. breaks into the open as Cyclops Corp. and NVF Co. both make formal offers for outstanding Sharon stock.

Youngstown Mayor Anthony B. Flask emphatically reaffirms his enthusiastic support of any proposed levy to keep Youngstown public schools operating.

A $700,000 five-story apartment building will be constructed at 465 Gypsy Lane by Rhea-Jean Inc. The 62 luxury units will rent for from $225 to $325 a month.

January 23, 1959: After viewing flood damage in the Mahoning Valley, U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan says he is moving as fast as possible on the West Branch reservoir project and says he is thankful the Valley has the Mosquito Creek and Berlin reservoirs to help control flooding.

Former Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Frank R. Franko, removed from office after being suspended from the practice of law, announces that he will definitely be a candidate for mayor of Youngstown.

January 23, 1934: The gates of the Pymatuning dam, which will form the largest body of water in Pennsylvania, are closed, the last important step in completion of the $3 million reservoir project.

Charles Byrd, 13, of 290 Valley St., is fatally injured and his brother, Allis, 7, loses three fingers while playing under a freight car in the New York Central yards south of the Madison Avenue bridge.

The sheriff’s payroll under Adam Stone in Mahoning County was the highest on a per capita basis among the eight largest counties in the state, an auditor’s report of 1932 shows. The cost was 20 cents per capita, compared to 15 cents in Trumbull and 7 cents in Columbiana.

Telegrams from Mahoning County industries, business houses, civic organizations and individuals flow into Washington urging congressional appropriations to finance a continued CWA work program. Other cities are mounting similar campaigns.