Today is Monday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2002. There is one day left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2002. There is one day left in the year. On this date in 1922, Vladimir I. Lenin proclaims the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In 1852, future U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes marries Lucy Ware Webb in Cincinnati. In 1853, the United States buys some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. In 1894, suffragist Amelia Jenks Bloomer dies in Council Bluffs, Iowa; she had gained notoriety for wearing a short skirt and baggy trousers that came to be known as "bloomers." In 1911, Sun Yat-sen is elected the first president of the Republic of China. In 1936, the United Auto Workers union stages its first "sit-down" strike, at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich. In 1940, California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, is officially opened. In 1944, King George II of Greece proclaims a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne. In 1948, the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate" opens on Broadway. In 1972, the United States halts its heavy bombing of North Vietnam. In 1993, Israel and the Vatican agree to recognize each other.
December 30, 1977: John Kenley's 20-year relationship with the Packard Music Hall and the Youngstown-Warren area is ending. Kenley was lured away by an attractive offer from the E.J. Thomas Hall for the Performing Arts on the campus of Akron University.
Thieves loot U.S. Postal Service delivery trucks on Youngstown's North and East sides, making off with an undetermined quantity of mail. One man arrested near the scene of one of the lootings is being questioned.
A Niles pilot for Dade Air Charter of Youngstown is presumed dead after his airplane is reported lost over Lake Ontario. Tim Carlile, 31, is the third pilot in three months to die flying for Dade.
December 30, 1962: Mahoning County commissioners slash $1.5 million from budget requests for 1963, leaving $4.3 million for the county to operate on.
Thirty-seven years of police work, including 24 as head of the department, come to an end as Chief Edward C. Gibson retires from the Meadville Police Department.
Commissioner-elect Robert Hagan enters the Trumbull County Courthouse equipped with a droll sense of humor and a verve that saw him through his entry into politics. The former scaffold maker has been working as an after-dinner speaker and for a time had his own program on WFMJ-TV.
December 30, 1952: Congressman Michael J. Kirwan and Congressman-elect Oliver P. Bolton are honored by 150 of Ashtabula County's leading businessmen, officials and civic leaders at a testimonial banquet at Hotel Ashtabula.
The Youngstown Post Office has 18,000 cards and letters in its dead letter file from the holiday season, most because of missing or illegible addresses. The number is 2,000 below what was undeliverable during the 1951 Christmas rush.
The Ohio Un-American Activities Committee calls for up-to-date state laws carrying prison sentences for Communist activities. The commission, which is headed by House Speaker Gordon Renner of Cincinnati, cites police departments in nine cities, including Youngstown, with keeping abreast of Communist activities.
December 30, 1927: Twelve judges of The Vindicator-Electrical League Outdoor Christmas Lighting Contest tour the city to view the lighting installations of contestants, who are urged to turn the lights on no later than 6:30 and leave them on for several hours.
One and possibly two automobile thieves who stole a car in Warren are wounded by Warren police in a chase during which police fired several shots. Youngstown police find the car at Hudson and Indianola avenues with three bullet holes in the car and blood on the seat.
The Ohio Leather Co. will enter the new year entirely free from funded debt, says C.H. Booth, chairman of the board of directors. The $300,000 balance of an original issue of $1.5 million issued in 1922 is redeemed.