Today is Wednesday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2003. There are seven days left in the year. This is

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2003. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve. On this date in 1968, the Apollo Eight astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve television broadcast.
In 1524, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama -- who had discovered a sea route around Africa to India -- dies in Cochin, India. In 1814, the War of 1812 officially ends as the United States and Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium. In 1851, fire devastates the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes. In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army form a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Klux Klan. In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" has its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. In 1906, Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden becomes the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass. In 1920, Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance, singing in Jacques Halevy's "La Juive" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
December 24, 1978: Youngstown Mayor J. Phillip Richley will re-establish the Mayor's Airport Advisory Committee to assist in long-range planning at the Youngstown Municipal Airport. A nucleus of four members will be named by the mayor; they will choose four to six additional members.
Trumbull County Prosecutor J. Walter Dragelevich suggests that county commissioners adopt guidelines to prevent conflicts of interest in county offices and commissions.
U.S. Sen Edward M. Kennedy and the staff of his Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly say government documents indicate that Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. was a healthy company whose financial performance was manipulated to justify a corporate merger for its parent company.
December 24, 1963: A private ambulance is damaged extensively and three people are injured when a car strikes the ambulance at Market Street and Dewey Avenue. The driver of the car is cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
Youngstown Mayor-elect Anthony R. Flask appoints John Terlesky, who had been chief of detectives, chief of police and state Rep. Thomas J. Barrett city finance director.
Major Rudolph J. Hamborsky, son of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew T. Hamborsky of Wilkinson Avenue, Youngstown, receives the Air Force Commendation Medal for his participation in the Mercury Spacecraft Project. As chief of the Space Guidance Branch of the Aerospace Test Wing it was his word that put the Faith 7 spacecraft manned by astronaut Gordon Cooper into a successful orbit.
December 24, 1953: Youngstown postal officials make an all-out effort to handle last-minute Christmas mailing rush. Postmaster John Doyle says regular clerks and carriers are being supplemented by 600 extra employees who will work from 6 a.m. Christmas Eve until well after dark.
Youngstown Traction Commissioner E.L. Tennyson says that if city council and downtown merchants get together to eliminate downtown curb parking during rush hours, bus service could be improved.
Director of the Niles Chamber of Commerce say the city should seek an impartial survey of the city police department and its use of personnel by "a competent, independent authority." The suggestion follows a rash of burglaries of businesses in the city.
December 24, 1928: Christmas spirit in Youngstown is shattering all records, with more than 2,000 deserving families reported to have been the recipients of aid from generous Youngstowners.
A chicken potpie worth $2,000 will be the principal entr & eacute;e at the Children's Home in Mercer, Pa. The pie will be made up of 14 game roosters taken in a raid on a cockfight near Mercer. One of the birds, a champion in his class, is valued at $500.
William A. Mason, chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party, is named to a committee that will be in charge of the inauguration of Gov. Myers Y. Cooper in Columbus.