Today is Thursday, Dec. 11, the 345th day of 2003. There are 20 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, Dec. 11, the 345th day of 2003. There are 20 days left in the year. On this date in 1936, Britain's King Edward VIII abdicates the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson.
In 1816, Indiana becomes the 19th state. In 1872, America's first black governor takes office as Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback becomes acting governor of Louisiana. In 1928, police in Buenos Aires thwarts an attempt on the life of President-elect Herbert Hoover. In 1941, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; the U.S. responds in kind. In 1946, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established. In 1961, a U.S. aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrives in Saigon -- the first direct American military support for South Vietnam's battle against Communist guerrillas. In 1981, the U.N. Security Council chooses Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru to be the fifth secretary-general of the world body. In 1991, a jury in West Palm Beach, Fla., acquits William Kennedy Smith of sexual assault and battery, rejecting the allegations of Patricia Bowman. In 1997, more than 150 countries agree at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan to control the Earth's greenhouse gases.
December 11, 1978: A top official in the Economic Development Administration denies a report in The New York Times that the government has agreed to finance the proposed ICX Aviation plant at Youngstown Municipal Airport. The Times story suggested that the government would guarantee from $80 million to $100 million in loans for the plant.
The Air Force grounds all 245 of its C-130 Hercules aircraft after a plane experiences engine problems and crashes into a farm near Fort Campbell, Ky., killing all five airmen aboard.
A penetrating article in Business Week strongly hints that Lykes Corp. closed portions of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co.'s aging Campbell Works to create a "failing company" concept that helped clear the way for tying together Sheet & amp; Tube and Jones & amp; Laughlin Steel.
The Commerce Department predicts a 20 percent decline in steel imports after the government sets minimum prices for steel imports. When steel is imported for less than the trigger price, the department launches an investigation into whether trade laws are being violated.
December 11, 1963: A federal grand jury in Cleveland will resume its probe of Youngstown area rackets in January and is expected to return indictments based on its investigation of the estate left by Vincent DeNiro, Youngstown rackets figured killed in a bomb blast July 17, 1961.
Robert E. Hagan, Trumbull County commissioner, announces that he will seek the Democratic nomination for 19th District congressman in the May primary against Michael J. Kirwan, who is seeking his 15th term.
Frank Sinatra's 19-year-old singer son, kidnapped at Lake Tahoe and held blindfolded for 54 hours, is released unharmed after his father paid a ransom of $240,000.
December 11, 1953: Youngstown Mayor Charles P. Henderson, president and one of the organizers of the Ohio Municipal League, is honored at the second annual Ohio Municipal Conference in Cleveland.
The YMCA's $300,000 capital fund drive comes to a surprise climax when $94,978 is reported at the final meeting, pushing the total to $305,081. Success of the campaign ensures a debt-free expansion project, which will include a new swimming pool and gymnasium.
In Steubenville, a 34-year-old unemployed miner beats his five children with a crowbar "to save them from the tortures and torments of the devil." Four are dead and the fifth, a 5-year-old boy, is clinging to life in Ohio Valley Hospital.
December 11, 1928: With the highest payroll in eight years reported (at $8 million in November) and with Christmas savings in the Mahoning Valley exceeding $1.2 million, Christmas trade has begun to swamp the stores, and department store executives predict the greatest holiday business in Youngstown history.
Two 16-year-old youths who confessed stealing about $6,000 in goods from the Sam Simon store in Lowellville are sentenced to indeterminate terms at the Mansfield Reformatory after appearing before Judge Frank L. Baldwin in juvenile court.
A mild epidemic of influenza in the forms of colds, sore throats and grippe is sweeping the city and local schools, Dr. H.C. Welch, city health commissioner reports.