Years Ago

Today is Friday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2011. There are 344 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1793: During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, is executed on the guillotine.

1861: Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and four other Southerners whose states had seceded from the Union resign from the U.S. Senate.

1911: Sen. Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin announces creation of the National Progressive Republican League with the goal of promoting “popular government and progressive legislation.”

1915: The first Kiwanis Club is founded, in Detroit.

1924: Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin dies at age 53.

1950: George Orwell (Eric Blair), author of “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” dies in London at age 46.

1954: The first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched at Groton, Conn. (However, it does not make its first nuclear-powered run until nearly a year later.)

1968: The Battle of Khe Sanh begins during the Vietnam War as North Vietnamese forces attack a U.S. Marine base; the Americans are able to hold their position until the siege is lifted 21/2 months later.

In Greenland, an American B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs crashes, killing one crew member and scattering radioactive material.

1970: The Boeing 747 goes on its first commercial flight as Pan Am passengers travel from New York to London.

1976: The supersonic Concorde jet is put into service by Britain and France.

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1986: Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors Corp., downplaying the drop in GM’s U.S. market share from 59 percent to 56 percent, says the company is concentrating on product quality over market share.

Youngstown Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro, whose administration has been accused of ignoring minorities, is supporting legislation aimed at erasing employment and housing discrimination.

1971: Youngstown’s North Side registers a smoky mark of 247 micrograms per cubic meter of air in air pollution tests, a new high mark.

The Youngstown Section of the National Council of Jewish Women is marking its 75th anniversary.

1961: State Highway Patrolmen capture two bandits in Columbiana County less than a half hour after they slugged and robbed an attendant at the Cormick Oil Co. in Canfield.

Dick Hartzell, Youngs-town University place kicker, wins the 135-pound novice title in Tom Carney’s 34th Gold Gloves Tournament at the Struthers Field House.

Held over at the Paramount for the third and final week: “Where the Boys Are,” starring Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, Barbara Nichols and Paula Prentiss, with Frank Gorshin and Connie Francis.

1936: Samuel T. Stewart, 95, of 38 Benita Ave., one of the city’s old-time barbers, is mourned as a “good fellow,” “a grand man” and a “splendid citizen.”

Christy W. Deibel, Youngstown golfer, remembers playing a round of golf in the summer of 1933, with Edward, Prince of Wales, who is King of England following the death of his father, King George V.