Today is Tuesday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2001. There are 13 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2001. There are 13 days left in the year. On this date in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, is declared in effect.
In 1787, New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1892, Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" publicly premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1915, President Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home. In 1940, Adolf Hitler signs a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa is launched in June 1941. In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not be detained. In 1956, Japan is admitted to the United Nations. In 1969, Britain's Parliament abolishes the death penalty for murder. In 1971, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announces in Chicago the founding of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity). In 1972, the United States begins its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam at that time during the Vietnam War. The bombardment ended 12 days later. In 1980, former Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin dies at age 76.
December 18, 1976: Three Reserved Officer Training Corps cadets at Youngstown State University are commissioned second lieutenants in the U.S. Army during ceremonies at the Pollock House. They are Wayne A. Boor of Masury, Stephen Cooper of Hubbard and Michael L. Peloza of Enon Valley, Pa.
Three cases of Guillain-Barre para lysis, one of them serious, are confirmed in the Youngstown area amid speculation that the swine flu inoculation program may be dropped.
Atty. Stanley V. Wilder, 67, a prominent Niles businessman and civic leader dies of an apparent heart attack in Wheatland, Wyoming, while visiting his son.
December 18, 1961: U.S. Sen. William Proxmire of Wisconsin tells 350 persons at Ohev Tzedek Temple in Youngstown Israel is the bulwark of freedom in the Middle East.
A state examiner says two Youngstown Water Department employees had insufficient funds in the bank accounts to cover checks totaling $1,060 that they cashed from department funds in October.
Fire roars through a nylon circus tent in Niteroi, Brazil, killing an estimated 300 persons and injuring as many as 1,000. It is the worst c circus disaster in history, supplanting the 1944 Ringling Bros. Fire in Hartford, Conn., that killed 168.
December 18, 1951: Common Pleas Judge Erskine Maiden issues and injunction barring Youngstown municipal judges, incumbents and judges elect from appointing anyone to deputies or bailiffs jobs.
Warren City Council approves an ordinance granting annual salary increases ranging from $200 to $2,400 to elected officials, excluding city councilmen. The mayor's salary will go from $5,100 to $7,500; president of council from $900 to $1,200. Council salaries remain $900.
Advertisement: Pres-A-Lite Cigarette Case hands the driver a lighted cigarette. The case holds 23 cigarettes and attaches to the steering wheel. Available in maroon, green or walnut at McKelvey's $6.95.
December 18, 1926: An extra dividend of 25 cents a share on the common stock of General Fireproofing Co. in addition to the regular $1 quarterly dividend is declared by the company's directors.
Mrs. Elizabeth Sabo, 35, dies in Buhl Hospital a few hours after soaking her clothes with turpentine and lighting a match in the basement of her home at 548 Baldwin Ave., Sharon.
Two brothers, John Barber, 24, and Julius, 14, both of 619 Tennessee Ave., Warren, die of injuries received when their Ford car drives into the path of an Erie passenger train at the Highland Ave. Crossing.