Today is Monday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2009. There are 339 days left in the year. This is the

January 26, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Monday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2009. There are 339 days left in the year. This is the Lunar New Year. On this date in 1788, the first European settlers in Australia, led by Capt. Arthur Phillip, land in present-day Sydney.

In 1784, in a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expresses unhappiness over the choice of the eagle as the symbol of America, and stated his own preference: the turkey. In 1837, Michigan becomes the 26th state. In 1841, Britain formally occupies Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. In 1861, Louisiana secedes from the Union. In 1870, Virginia rejoins the Union. In 1942, the first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II goes ashore in Northern Ireland. In 1950, India officially proclaims itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad takes the oath of office as president. In 1962, the United States launches Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon — but the probe misses its target by more than 22,000 miles. In 1969, President Richard M. Nixon declares a federal disaster in California in the wake of major flooding. In 1979, former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller dies in New York at age 70.

January 26, 1984: A U.S. Senate staff report says Youngstown is “on the verge of becoming a captive city” in which mob activity is so much a part of daily life that politicians are threatened if they refuse to compromise their honesty.

James Meredith, the first black student at the University of Mississippi, will be one of the featured speakers when Youngstown State University marks Black History Month in February.

Warren Fire Chief Roger Herron promises a crackdown on apartment owners who are violating local safety codes by not installing smoke alarms.

Joseph G. “Blackie” Gennaro, chairman of the Ohio Boxing Commission, and his companies reach a settlement with the federal government requiring payment of nearly $600,000 in back taxes.

January 26, 1969: Stanley E. Peterson, senior resident agent for the FBI in Youngstown is transferred to the FBI’s Memphis office.

Pennsylvania’s first self-serve liquor store opens in a small commercial development near New Castle. It is one of 10 experimental self-serve stores that will open.

The Catholic Service League reports giving service to 1,034 individuals and families faced with financial crises and other problems in 1968.

Youngstown Public Schools will have $766,311 less in general fund income in 1969 with which to educate its 27,000 students, making passage of a new operating levy even more crucial to the cash-strapped district.

January 26, 1959: Youngstown police follow footprints in fresh snow from the scene of a break-in at the Isaly Dairy store at 1514 W. Federal St. To a tumble down house in Marble Street where two women and six men were arrested. Lunch meat, wieners, cookies and bread were taken in the break-in.

Advertisement: Available at City Auto Sales, 51 W. Indianola Ave., the new Fiat, with prices starting a $1,158 for the economical Model 500 sedans.

The Youngstown district, which probably produces more steel per capita than any other major area, gained a little in capacity to 12.4 million net tons, but dropped from 8.7 percent to 8.3 percent of the nation’s total capacity.

January 26, 1934: Four Youngstown city councilmen say they will approve an increase of $230,000 in the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District tax levy.

John Dillinger and three members of his gang are arrested in Tucson, Ariz. Dillinger is believed to have hid out in Masury at one time and he is suspected in a robbery at the Sol Gully Bank in Farrell, Pa.

Four men are arrested in Hazard, Ky., as county officials press their investigation of the lynching of Rex Scott, 20-year-old Negro, who was taken from the Perry County jail by a mob and hanged in a graveyard.

The auto industry appears to be headed for the best business it has done since 1929.