Today is Friday, Dec. 20, the 354th day of 2002. There are 11 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Dec. 20, the 354th day of 2002. There are 11 days left in the year. On this date in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase is completed as ownership of the territory is formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.
In 1864, Confederate forces evacuate Savannah, Ga., as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continues his "March to the Sea." In 1879, Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrates his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J. In 1945, the Office of Price Administration announces the end of tire rationing, effective Jan. 1, 1946. In 1968, author John Steinbeck dies in New York at age 66. In 1976, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley dies at age 74. In 1980, the government of the Soviet Union confirms that former Premier Alexei N. Kosygin had died two days earlier at the age of 76. In 1987, more than three-thousand people are killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collides with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island. In 1989, the United States launches Operation "Just Cause," sending troops into Panama to topple the government of Gen. Manuel Noriega.
December 20, 1977: A 22-year-old Poland Ave. man is shot and killed by a store manager during a robbery at the Convenient Food Mart on Churchill Road, Liberty Township. The manager of the store, who witnessed the robbery through a one-way pane, fired several shots through the mirror, striking the robber in the back. An accomplice was arrested by Youngstown police at his home.
Three men disarm a guard and rob the Dollar Savings & amp; Trust Co. branch at 1805 Belmont Ave. of an undetermined sum. Three suspects are arrested by FBI agents on Wirt Street about two hours after the robbery.
The Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority could have as many as 426 additional housing units if plans prepared by the recently retired executive director, Chester Amedia, are realized. About 220 of those units would be in the old Ohio Hotel, which the YMHA is in the process of purchasing.
December 20, 1962: Mahoning County sheriff's deputies are having a tough time finding out who owns the 22 pinball machines confiscated in raids in Campbell and Struthers. U.S. Internal Revenue Service agents have confiscated the machines.
Youngstown City Council action on the proposed realignment of ward boundaries is deferred pending a detailed study by a citizens committee to be appointed within several weeks.
Nearly 20 Youngstown policemen, using riot guns and high powered portable lights, flush out a wounded gunman three miles from a Boardman service station where two men robbed an attendant at the point of a 12-gauge shotgun. The robbers fled into the woods amid a hail of bullets after their car was stopped in a roadblock.
December 20, 1952: Couples who have been married 50 years or longer are honored guests at a Christmas Party sponsored by 13 National Lutheran Council churches and held at Martin Luther Church. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Maronde of 334 Ayers St., get to cut the cake since they were married the longest, of the couples attending, 63 years.
An unusually heavy run on stamps keeps postal clerks hopping, and numerous substations have had to file emergency requisitions to keep up with a 25 percent increase over the holiday mail volume of 1951.
The $10,000 goal in the Youngstown drive for the United Negro College Fund has been exceeded by $720, says Dr. Eugene C. Beach, pastor of First Christian Church and drive chairman.
A Mahoning County jailbreak that Sheriff Paul J. Langley kept secret even from Youngstown police is revealed with the capture of two prisoners in New Castle. Youngstown police said this isn't the first time Langley has tried to keep the wraps on a jail break. The men escaped by making a key to their cell door from a bedspring and were free overnight before being recaptured.
December 20, 1927: Joseph G. Butler, Youngstown's "first citizen," a philanthropist and iron master, dies in this sleep at his home at 525 Wick Ave. on the eve of his 87th birthday. He had been in failing health for 10 years.
Youngstown turns out 3,000 strong to have Billy Sunday, world champion evangelist, guide them down the "long, long sawdust trail" to salvation. The Keith-Albee Theater was jammed to the rafters.
Seamen trapped in the sunken S-4 submarine are obviously weakening. Their taps can barely be heard and are no longer in code. A storm in the Atlantic off Provinceton. Mass., is slowing the rescue effort.