Today is Sunday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2003. There are 24 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Sunday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2003. There are 24 days left in the year. On this date in 1941, Japanese forces attack American and British territories and possessions in the Pacific, including the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
In 1787, Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1796, electors choose John Adams to be the second president of the United States. In 1836, Martin Van Buren is elected the eighth president of the United States. In 1946, fire breaks out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze kills 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff. In 1963, during the Army-Navy game, videotaped instant replay is used for the first time in a live sports telecast as CBS re-shows a one-yard touchdown run by Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh. (Navy beat Army, 21-15.) In 1972, America's last moon mission to date is launched as "Apollo 17" blasts off from Cape Canaveral. In 1972, Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant who is then shot dead by her bodyguards. In 1983, in Madrid, Spain, an Aviaco DC-9 collides on a runway with an Iberia Air Lines Boeing 727 that was accelerating for takeoff, killing all 42 people aboard the DC-9 and 51 aboard the Iberia jet. In 1987, 43 people are killed in the crash of a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California after a gunman apparently opens fire on a fellow passenger and the two pilots. In 1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastates northern Armenia; official estimates put the death toll at 25,000.
December 7, 1978: Hilton Inns Inc. is interested in purchasing East End property to build a downtown hotel, Youngstown City Council is told.
The Urban League and the NAACP tell Youngstown City Council that they favor building a low-income housing project in a predominantly white area on Youngstown's West Side. The project, calling for 124 housing units on a 28-acre site, has been stymied by opposition from West Side residents.
Some 11,500 Mahoning County families on the federal food stamp program will receive 5 percent cost-of-living increases. In a dramatic change in the program, recipients will no longer have to buy the stamps with cash. During October, Mahoning County residents paid $383,504 for stamps valued at $1.17 million.
December 7, 1963: Reports from the Mahoning County grand jury say that it has uncovered the names of two killers in a Youngstown gangland slaying.
The constitutionality of Ohio's Sunday closing law is upheld by the 7th District Court of Appeals. The court overturned a ruling by Youngstown Municipal Judge Don L. Hanni Jr. in the arrest of the operators of Welles Department Store in the McGuffey Plaza.
The Most Rev. James W. Malone, auxiliary bishop of Youngstown, arrives home from the second session of the Vatican Ecumenical Council.
December 7, 1953: Civil Defense personnel declare Youngstown's mock air raid a success. Federal Street was crowded at noon, but when the siren sounded, motorists pulled to the side and pedestrians took cover as they had been instructed to do.
The Youngstown Municipal Railway Co. turns down City Council's request that the Albert Street trolley line be extended to Avon Street and Hubbard Road. General manager Michael Malmer says the small number of potential passengers would not justify the $16,000 cost of the extension.
Ohio Gov. Frank J. Lausche announces that he will seek a fifth-two year term as governor.
Mayor-elect Frank X. Kryzan, who defeated Mayor Charles P. Henderson, is lauded at a victory dinner in the Krakusy Hall as the obvious successor to Congressman Michael J. Kirwan.
December 7, 1928: E.J. Peck, Youngstown's "Christmas Tree Man," returns from his 28th annual trip to pick up a healthy supply of Yule trees for Youngstown residents. He spent eight weeks in Nova Scotia overseeing the harvesting of 25,000 trees, which are being shipped by bobsled, truck and rail to Youngstown.
Judge David Thomas denies a new trial for Ruth Livermore, the 22-year-old former school teacher, serving a life sentence for participating the robbery of the home of John Mitchell on Kirk Road. Judge Thomas said her claims of third-degree methods being used by police to extract a confession from her were not credible and that she and her husband and accomplice, Lester, obviously lied while on the stand.
The Mid-West YMCA Educational Directors Association convention opens in Youngstown with 25 regional associations represented. Directors attended the weekly chapel service of Youngstown College students at St. John's Episcopal Church, then inspected Youngstown College and then retired to the Central YMCA for all other sessions.