YEARS AGO

Today is Monday, Jan. 16, the 16th day of 2017. There are 349 days left in the year. This is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Associated Press

On this date in:

1920: Prohibition begins in the U.S. as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution takes effect, one year to the day after its ratification. (It is later repealed by the 21st Amendment.)

1935: Fugitive gangster Fred Barker and his mother, Kate “Ma” Barker, are killed in a shootout with the FBI at Lake Weir, Fla.

1978: NASA names 35 candidates to fly on the space shuttle, including Sally K. Ride, who becomes America’s first woman in space, and Guion S. Bluford Jr., who becomes America’s first black astronaut in space.

1991: The White House announces the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. (Allied forces prevail Feb. 28, 1991.)

2007: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., launches his successful bid for the White House. Jury selection begins in the CIA leak trial of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. (Libby is later convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI; President George W. Bush ends up commuting Libby’s 30-month prison term.)

2016: The U.N. nuclear agency certifies that Iran has met all of its commitments under a landmark deal, prompting the West to lift economic sanctions that had been in place for years.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: Youngstown Mayor Patrick Ungaro says he will ask the Cleveland law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey to outline a strategy for dissolving the 60-year-old Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, a partnership of Youngstown and Niles.

Youngstown’s Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, former World Boxing Association lightweight champion, is planning a return to the ring with a 12-round bout against two-time world champion Greg Haugen in Reno on April 3.

David H. Hoag, chief executive officer of LTV Corp., says veteran steel companies are struggling to survive in a weakened economy and have little chance against younger competitors that aren’t bogged down by heavy pension and health care costs.

1977: Joseph Simon, owner of the Cedar Lounge and Restaurant at 21-25 N. Hazel St., launches a campaign to have free parking in the Central Business District and has collected the signatures of 45 downtown store and office owners.

While the United Auto Workers union is advocating a four-day work week as a way of increasing jobs, industry insiders warn that a shorter workweek could reduce jobs by increasing the industry’s move toward automation.

Howland High School wins sweepstakes honors at the Girard Kiwanis Invitational Debate Tournament, and Boardman High School takes first place in the Craig Bond Memorial Tournament at Niles McKinley High School.

1967: An armed bandit who claimed to have a sore throat forces clerk Bessie Harris at the Benita Drug store, 202 Elm St., to unlock the store safe and escapes with more than $400.

The Rev. Donald Steffy is installed as pastor of First Christian Church succeeding the Rev. Eugene Beach, who is retiring after 31 years as pastor.

John W. Guffey Jr. is promoted to manager of industrial relations for the Republic Rubber Division of Aeroquip Corp.

A five-week refresher course is planned for registered nurses by District 3, Ohio State Nurses Association, with funds provided by Manpower Development and Training Act.

1942: Discarded cans in dumps may become a vital source of scrap to supply Youngstown’s steel plants and of tin to replace supplies cut off from the Far East. There are plans to build a chain of six de-tinning plants.

Ray Hagstrom, Mahoning County tire-rationing coordinator, gets instructions to wage war on “chiselers and bootleggers” dealing in ties and tubes.

A plan for safeguarding lakes Milton and Meander against sabotage that would endanger Mahoning Valley war efforts will be worked out by civil-defense leaders.