Today is Friday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2001. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives

Today is Friday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2001. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere at 2:22 p.m. EST. On this date in 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower go ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
In 1898, scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover the radioactive element radium. In 1913, the first crossword puzzle is published, in the New York World. In 1945, Gen. George S. Patton dies in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident. In 1948, the state of Eire (formerly the Irish Free State) declares its independence. In 1988, 270 people are killed when a terrorist bomb explodes aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground. In 1995, the city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
December 21, 1976: The Lordstown Local School District, with a starting salary for teachers of $9,300 a year, is the tops in the Mahoning Valley and the only one from the area listed among the 50 best-paying school districts in Ohio.
Richard Joseph Daley, Mayor of Chicago and lord of a political machine the likes of which may never be seen again, dies of a heart attack suffered at his doctor's office.
Dozens of people line up outside the doors of the Mahoning County dog pound, many of them wanting the same dogs - those featured in the Sunday Vindicator. But in the end, all disputes are resolved amicably.
December 21, 1961: A 1962 budget calling for $14,249, 750 is passed by Youngstown City Council with a clear indication that there will be many changes before it is transformed into a working appropriation measure.
Dr. Ralph S. Lloyd, a Niles native, is appointed chief dental officer of the Public Health Service.
John A. Coakley Jr., president of & quot;Automatic & quot; Sprinkler Corporation of America, is elected president of the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds Fred B. King Jr., funeral director.
December 21, 1951: Children of the deaf class at Bennett School in Youngstown are visited by Santa Claus at the Four Square Club party at Pleasant Grove U.P. Church. Dinner is served by the Blue Ray Auxiliary.
After a seven-day cycle of snow and near-zero temperatures, weather forecasters say a warm spell is on its way, so this probably won't be a white Christmas.
With the exception of public and parochial schools, city hall and most federal offices, Youngstown business machinery will be humming as usual the Monday before Christmas. Store hours will be from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
December 21, 1926: Three men are killed, one of them a Sharon police officer, a chorus girl is in critical condition in Buhl Hospital and three others are lodged in Sharon City Jail as the result of an automobile accident that was the climax of a wild party of Youngstown men and show girls. Police officer Joseph Yazvac was riding on the running board, attempting to get the driver to stop, when the crash occurred.
Harry Foster of Hillman St. is fined $1,000 and sentenced to one year in county jail for accepting the wife of his step-brother and her three children as so much chattel, and even living with Mrs. Groves.
More than a million pieces of mail are handled in one day at the Youngstown Post Office, setting a new record for all time, but the figure could be exceeded before Christmas.