Today is Monday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2002. There are 22 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2002. There are 22 days left in the year. On this date in 1907, Christmas Seals go on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office; proceeds go to fight tuberculosis.
In 1608, English poet John Milton is born in London. In 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," is published in England. In 1940, British troops open their first major offensive in North Africa during WWII. In 1941, China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy. In 1942, the Aram Khachaturian ballet "Gayane," featuring the surging "Saber Dance," is first performed by the Kirov Ballet. In 1958, the anti-Communist John Birch Society is formed in Indianapolis. In 1965, Nikolai V. Podgorny replaces Anastas I. Mikoyan as president of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.In 1995, Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., is chosen the new head of the NAACP.
December 9, 1977: A second 6 inches of snow falls on Youngstown and the mercury dips toward zero, clogging most roads and closing most schools.
U.S. Rep Charles J. Carney, Youngstown Democrat, introduces a bill in Congress that would require major U.S. corporations to report their foreign imports.
Six men are named life members of the Mahoning Valley Chapter of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. The are Sidney Collins, David Endres, Ernest Ikirt, Ralph Mateer, Kenneth McCready and Owen Scott.
December 9, 1962: Two important developments in basic steel industry technology -- continuous casting and pressure casting -- may soon make their debut on a big scale in the Youngstown district.
Most Christmas packages mailed in Youngstown during the past three days have gone no farther than the parcel post annex on Andrews Avenue because the season's first heavy snowfall has crippled the Northeast.
Karen Chain, a junior at Youngstown University, is named Sigma Alpha Epsilon's sweetheart of 1963 at the fraternity's annual dinner dance.
December 9, 1952: The statewide campaign of 22 Ohio independent liberal arts colleges to raise $1 million from industry opens in Youngstown with the arrival of seven college executives who will spearhead the drive in Mahoning County.
U.S. Attorney General James P. McGranery orders proceedings to strip American citizenship from Albert Anastasia, who has been described by the Justice Department as a New York waterfront racketeer.
Two World War II veterans will lead the Republican majority in the Ohio House of Representatives. William Saxbe will be the speaker, and Kline L. Roberts, the floor leader.
December 9, 1927: Four Youngstown detectives are in Pennsylvania, hot on the trail of a man who has been identified by an accomplice as the gunman in the slaying of Youngstown Patrolman Henry Clemens. Pennsylvania state troopers and Youngstown detectives arrested the accomplice near Butler, acting on a tip received by Youngstown Chief of Police Goodwin.
Fire guts the two-story Girard Mercantile Co. building in Girard's business district. The loss is estimated at $100,000.