Years Ago

Today is Monday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2010. There are 347 days left in the year. This is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On this date in 1949, Charles Ponzi, engineer of one of the most spectacular swindles in history, dies destitute in the charity ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.

In 1778, English navigator Captain James Cook reaches the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubs the “Sandwich Islands.” In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship takes place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brings his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbor. In 1943, a ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S. — aimed at reducing bakeries’ demand for metal replacement parts — goes into effect. In 1970, David Oman McKay, the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at the age of 96. In 1990, a jury in Los Angeles acquits former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges. Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry is arrested in an FBI sting on drug-possession charges.

January 18, 1985: As promised, Ohio House Speaker Vernal Riffe removes Youngstown Rep. Joseph Vukovich as chairman of the Commercial and Civil Law Committee as retribution for Vukovich’s vote against a bill giving raises to state officials.

Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., one of the country’s leading real estate developers, is being credited with persuading Gov. Richard F. Celeste to pursue converting the Ravenna Arsenal into an industrial park.

January 18, 1970: Only one of Mahoning County’s taxing districts will escape a real estate tax boost, with Youngstown rates going up $13 and Struthers $10.10 per $1,000 in property valuation.

Leaking crude oil on Vienna Creek is set afire to keep the oil from reaching Liberty Lake, a mile downstream. Thick smoke fills the sky for hours as the oil buns off.

Woodrow W. Zinser, Youngstown school superintendent, says the district has no money to offer members of Local 1173, Public School Employees Union, which is threatening a strike.

January 18, 1960: After standing idle for nearly two years, Warren’s new Northeast fire station at Atlantic and Kenilworth, will be put into operation after city council approves a budget that includes an increase of $12,000 for additional firemen needed to man the station.

President Eisenhower submits a budget of $79.8 billion, which includes a projected surplus of $4 billion. The surplus could lead to a tax cut in the following budget.

January 18, 1935: Steel output in the Mahoning Valley will advance to 61 percent, the highest rate since June 1934.

L. Lamont Hughes, president of the Carnegie Steel Co., turns the first shovel of dirt for the new 42-inch continuous strip mill at McDonald.

Members of the Youngstown and Mahoning County Women’s Christian Temperance Union decry the sale of liquor in the city and county during Temperance Day at First Baptist Temple.

Freezing rain coats area streets with ice, causing bus and auto traffic between Cleveland and Pittsburgh to seek refuge in wayside inns and bringing morning traffic to a standstill.