YEARS AGO

YEARS AGO

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2015. There are 44 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1800: Congress has its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.

1869: The Suez Canal opens in Egypt.

1889: The Union Pacific Railroad Co. begins direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Ore., as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

1947: President Harry S. Truman, in an address to a special session of Congress, calls for emergency aid to Austria, Italy and France. (The aid was approved the next month.)

1979: Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

2005: U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, considered one of Congress’ most hawkish Democrats, calls for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

2010: House Democrats elect Nancy Pelosi to remain as their leader despite massive party losses in midterm elections. Republicans vote to keep John Boehner as their top House leader, making him speaker in the new Congress. A hand-count of votes affirms the re-election of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the first Senate candidate in more than 50 years to win a write-in campaign.

VINDICATOR FILES

1990: Youngstown firefighters are called out to dislodge 14 anti-abortion demonstrators who used various interlocking devices to connect themselves together at the Mahoning Women’s Center on Market Street.

U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Youngstown says he will join Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Calif., in filing suit in federal court to block President Bush from going to war with Iraq without congressional approval.

Campbell Memorial falls to Loudonville, 8-7, in a Division IV state semifinal game in Berea. “We just didn’t execute as we should have,” said Campbell Coach Ed Rozum.

1975: Pennsylvania State Police at the New Castle Barracks say an explosive device was used to blow up a 1969 car in the parking lot of Perkins Pancake House on Wilmington Road, where the owner, Shirley Shaney, was working as a waitress.

Albert B. Arnett, 21, was accidentally shot in the back by Wilson Humphrey, owner of Humphrey’s Sunoco Station, 808 Market St., as he and Humphrey attempted to capture a suspected burglar.

Forrest Gregg’s Cleveland Browns lose their ninth- straight game, to the Oakland Raiders, 38-17. Other teams in the American Conference Central Division are the Steelers, 8-1; Bengals, 7-1, and Oilers, 7-2.

1965: An apparent twister strikes isolated sections of Green and Poland townships, causing no deaths or serious injuries, but leaving a wide trail of property damage.

The motor carrier Great Lakes Express closes an old terminal on Meridian Road and moves into a new building on Dunlap Road near the Ohio Turnpike.

1940: Four hours of steady snow and brisk winds turn Youngstown district roads into skidways, leaving scores of cars stranded on hills throughout the city.

The first 21 men leaving Mahoning County for a year of military service under the 1940 conscription act will leave for Columbus in three days. All are expected to be volunteers.

C.G. Nichols, president of the Retail Merchants Board, reports Christmas decorations are being put up in downtown Youngstown, along with thousands of lights and a 40-foot Christmas tree on Central Square. The tree will be lighted Thanksgiving Eve, signaling the start of the holiday season.