Today in history

Today is Wednesday, June 17, the 168th day of 2009. There are 197 days left in the year. On this date in 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill takes place near Boston. The battle (which actually occurs on Breed’s Hill) is a costly victory for the British, who suffer heavy losses while dislodging the rebels.

In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor aboard the French ship Isere. In 1928, Amelia Earhart embarks on a trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, becoming the first woman to make the trip as a passenger. In 1944, the republic of Iceland is established. In 1957, mob underboss Frank Scalice is shot to death at a produce market in the Bronx, N.Y. In 1959, a British court awards American entertainer Liberace 8,000 pounds (the equivalent of $22,400) in his libel suit against the Daily Mirror over an article that Liberace charged implied he was a homosexual. In 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West while his troupe is in Paris. In 1969, the raunchy musical review “Oh! Calcutta!” opens in New York. In 1971, the United States and Japan sign a treaty under which Okinawa would revert to Japanese control. In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon’s eventual downfall begins with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s Watergate complex. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan announces the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger, who is succeeded by William Rehnquist.

June 17, 1984: Three Youngstown men are being held hostage in Saudi Arabia by a prince who wants Youngstown contractor Bernard J. “Pete” Bucheit Jr. to return to Riyadh to settle a contractual dispute over construction of a shopping mall.

Some Warren city officials are questioning the need for developing an airfield in Braceville Township, especially in light of a proposal to regionalize Youngstown Municipal Airport.

June 17, 1969: A 39-year-old Cleveland man who has been held in the Mahoning County Jail for one week short of a year awaiting trial on drug charges says his constitutional rights are being violated.

The Flask administration has asked Youngstown City Council to create the $8,333-a-year job of a director of mental health for the police department and to add three captains in the fire department. The captains would oversee the department’s new $70,000 snorkel truck.

June 17, 1959: The Seventh District Court of Appeals has overruled a Mahoning County common pleas judge who ordered commissioners to pay for an investigator for Coroner Dr. David Belinky.

The Ohio Senate has approved a bill that will revoke a ban on Sunday fishing that has been on the books in the state for 160 years.

June 17, 1934: Youngstown Mayor Mark E. Moore suggests an avenue for “real” government economy by consolidating Mahoning County’s 35 separate political subdivisions into one home-rule unit.

Mahoning County will save between $5,000 and $7,000 a year after closing the Glenwood Children’s Home and placing all the children in boarding or free homes.

The Monday Musical Club has sold 1,800 tickets for the coming concert series and expects to sell 2,000 by the time a final count is made.