YEARS AGO

Today is Thursday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2017. There are 339 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1784: In a letter to his daughter Sarah, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the choice of the bald eagle as the symbol of America and stated his own preference: the turkey.

1837: Michigan becomes the 26th state.

1942: The first American Expeditionary Force to head to Europe during World War II arrives in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1962: The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon – but the probe ends up missing its target by more than 22,000 miles.

1979: Former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller dies in New York at age 70.

1988: The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera” opens at Broadway’s Majestic Theater.

1998: President Bill Clinton forcefully denied having an affair with a former White House intern, telling reporters, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

2007: The White House says President George W. Bush has authorized U.S. forces in Iraq to take whatever actions were necessary to counter Iranian agents deemed a threat to American troops or the public at large.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: John K. Mohney is retiring after 28 years as Mercer County, Pa., coroner.

The Youngstown Police Department has a three-person recruiting team working to find minority applicants for the department. Serving on the team are Sgt. Louis Averhart, Detective Sgt. Delphine Baldwin and Patrolman Jose Morales.

CareerCom Corp., which owns about 50 technical and trade schools, announces that it is closing Harding Business College in Warren, citing persistent drops in enrollment and financial problems.

1977: Youngstown street superintendent and Mahoning and Trumbull county engineers are worried about dwindling supplies of road salt attributed to severe winter weather.

With temperatures dropping to between 10 and 15 degrees below zero, East Ohio Gas Co. delays plans to lift curtailment of service to area industries.

Frank C. Watson announces that the drive to raise $3 million for construction of a sports complex at Youngstown State University has reached the halfway mark.

1967: General Motors announces layoffs and production cuts, but they aren’t expected to affect Lordstown, the only plant producing the popular Pontiac Firebird. About 80 percent of the output is Firebirds and 20 percent full-sized Chevrolets.

The cost of installing facilities to serve Milton Township and Craig Beach with water through the Youngstown system is estimated at $1.3 million by the city water commissioner.

Youngstown City Council defeats a resolution to place a 20 percent increase in the city income tax on the May ballot.

1942: A fleet of 15 to 20 airplanes piloted by enrollees in the Civil Air Patrol will fly in formation over Youngstown.

Mayor and Mrs. William B. Spagnola purchase a house on 5 acres outside Phoenix for $8,400. Spagnola says he bought the property as an investment.

The New York Renaissance Quintet, the world’s foremost Negro basketball team, and the Toledo Chevies of the National Professional League, will clash at South High Field House in an exhibition game.

The Mahoning County food industry received $64,821 in new business in the last half of 1941 due to the federal food-stamp program for welfare recipients.