10 years ago

From the Journal Tribune: “A long-running civil case against the city was decided this fall, in the city’s favor, and will allow the city to retain disputed sewer use fees. Peter Tucci, owner of Dus-Trol Rental Company in the River Dam Mill Complex, filed suit against the city in 2001 after he discovered that his sewer line had not been connected during the period in which he was charged sewer user fees.”

50 years ago

From the Biddeford-Saco Journal: “An autopsy has been ordered in connection with the death of Donald H. Caron, 21, of Lewiston, who was found hung in a cell at the Auburn police headquarters. Police found the father of two dead in the cell Friday. Authorities said he had fashioned a noose from his shirt and attached it to the cell’s bars. He was being held on charges of intoxication and disturbance.”

100 years ago

From the Biddeford Daily Journal: “The Journal was informed Friday evening that a proposition was under way which would go a long way toward helping to get on some matched races in this city. The idea is to have the owners of three horses put up $10 a piece to pull off a race on the Kennebunk road speedway some Saturday afternoon so that people working in the mills and machine shop could have a chance to see it; the winner to take $20 and the second horse $10.”

— Krysteana Scribner

Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2016. There are 344 days left in the year.

On this date: In 1498, during his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrived at the present day Caribbean island of St. Vincent. In 1901, Britain’s Queen Victoria died at age 81 after a reign of 63 years; she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for “peace without victory.” (By April, however, America also was at war.) In 1922, Pope Benedict XV died; he was succeeded by Pius XI. In 1938, Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” was performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy. In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama “The Crucible” opened on Broadway.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, legalized abortions using a trimester approach. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at age 64.

Ten years ago Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Indian president, took office with a promise to lift his nation’s struggling indigenous majority out of centuries of poverty and discrimination. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC title game, dismantling the Denver Broncos 34-17. The Seattle Seahawks claimed the NFC title, routing the Carolina Panthers 34- 14.

Five years ago Drawing inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia, thousands of Yemenis demanded the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a noisy demonstration that appeared to be the first large-scale public challenge to the strongman. (He stepped down as president in 2012.)

One year ago With thousands of abortion protesters swarming Washington in their annual March for Life, the House voted 242-179 to permanently forbid federal funds for most abortion coverage, even though the legislation had no realistic chance of passage. Yemen’s U.S.-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, quit under pressure from rebels holding him captive in his home. — By The Associated Press