Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2002. On this date in 1879, Thomas Edison

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2002. On this date in 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrates his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1775, the British repulse an attack by Continental Army Gens. Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery is killed. In 1857, Britain's Queen Victoria decides to make Ottawa the capital of Canada. In 1862, President Lincoln signs an act admitting West Virginia to the Union. In 1877, President and Mrs. Hayes celebrate their silver anniversary (technically, a day late) by re-enacting their wedding ceremony in the White House. In 1946, President Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II. In 1961, the Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid. In 1974, private U.S. citizens are allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years. In 1978, Taiwanese diplomats strike their colors for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, marking the end of diplomatic relations with the U.S. In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people are killed when fire breaks out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas. In 1986, 97 people are killed when fire breaks out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later plead guilty to charges in connection with the blaze.)
December 31, 1977: An old slope mine is the apparent cause of a subsiding at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center, and the same tunnel may pass under Cardinal Mooney High School.
Steelworkers at the Brier Hill Works ask the U.S. Justice Department to protect their jobs if the parent corporations are permitted to consolidate the Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. and Jones & amp; Laughlin Steel companies.
Sharp-shooting Matt Cavanaugh teams with Elliot Walker for touchdown strikes of 39, 11, 10 and 25 yards, ending his college career with school and Gator Bowl passing records in a 34-3 rout of Clemson. Cavanaugh, a former Youngstown Chaney star, had missed almost four full games with a broken wrist early in the season.
December 31, 1962: The Robins Enterprises Co. of Warren will lease the Palace Theater in Youngstown from the Palace Realty Co. Robins Enterprise has also offered to buy stock in the State Theater Co.
The Rev. E. W. Bloomquist, D.D., announces his resignation from First Baptist Temple after a 20-year pastorate. During his pastorate, he served as president of the Ohio Baptist Convention for two years.
An Uptown Cab Co. driver is beaten and robbed of $12 by two young men who stopped him at the Bus Arcade on Federal Street in downtown Youngstown.
The Youngstown district is ushering out 1962 with record low temperatures with the mercury falling to a record low of minus 1 at the Youngstown Municipal Airport.
December 31, 1952: William L. Sause of 1119 Bryson St., Youngstown's first street railway commissioner and former Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman, dies in St. Elizabeth Hospital. He was 72.
Lloyd Brownlee, well-to-do Coitsville Township farmer, freed on a second degree murder charge, is in hiding after receiving threats to his life and property. Mahoning County Prosecutor William A. Ambrose says Brownlee and his family have left Youngstown.
Thirty-one police cars, 20 in Youngstown and 11 in Mahoning County, will be on the look out for drunken drivers on New Year's Eve.
December 31, 1927: Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Thomas Jenkins issues the oath of office to Youngstown's new mayor, former Judge Joseph L. Heffernan.
Police Chief Leroy Goodwin turns over his keys to the new chief, James J. McNicholas, and automatically reverts to his former position of chief of detectives. McNicholas has been a member of the Youngstown Police Department for 35 years.
Belief that J.A. Campbell, president of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., has already acquired a large interest in Inland Steel Co. through quiet purchases is being freely expressed in Cleveland, Chicago, New York and Youngstown. Campbell says a merger of the third and fifth largest steel concerns in the U.S. is unlikely.