Years Ago

Today is Sunday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2010. There are 348 days left in the year. On this date in 1950, seven masked men pull of the Great Brink’s Robbery in Boston, escaping with $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks and money orders. (The 11-member gang is later caught, but only part of the loot is recovered.)

In 1893, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, dies in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70. 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. 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 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, 1985: Lorinda Butler of Youngstown will be among 28 other equestriennes in the International Sidesaddle Organization riding in President Reagan’s second inaugural parade. Another local rider in the parade will be Lance Cpl. David Walusis who will be one of 85 horsemen in Culver Military Academy’s Black Horse Troop.

Niles City Council votes to block further gas well drilling in the city and will seek to stop work on wells being drilled on private land adjacent to Stevens Park.

January 17, 1970: Pollution control provides an unexpected side effect as Crandall Park Lake freezes over for ice skating for the first time in years. The lake had been polluted by raw sewage, detergents and motor oils, which kept it from freezing in even very cold weather.

Unbeaten Boardman completes a sweep of the Steel Valley Conference with a 73-47 conquest of Girard.

January 17, 1960: More than 100 candidates are circulating petitions for 19 offices to be filled by county and district voters in the 1960 primary and general elections. Some hotly contested local races are assured.

President Eisenhower’s budget includes a $20 million item for construction of a Veterans Administration hospital in Cleveland.

January 17, 1935: A Mahoning County jury awards $575 to Mrs. Frank Skurna who sued John Bodak, alleged operator of a “bug” clearing house. The $75 was for bets placed by Mrs. Skurna’s husband over a period of time and $500 for a winning number on which payment wasn’t made.

About 250 of the men who make up the railroads — engineers, conductors, dispatchers, telegraphers, car knockers, clerks and even “brass hats” — jam the YMCA auditorium for a dinner meeting of the Erie and Baltimore & Ohio Veterans Association.