Today is Monday, Dec. 22, the 356th day of 2003. There are nine days left in the year. Winter

Today is Monday, Dec. 22, the 356th day of 2003. There are nine days left in the year. Winter arrives at 2:04 a.m. Eastern time. On this date in 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replies "Nuts!" when the Germans demand that the Americans surrender.
In 1775, a Continental naval fleet is organized in the rebellious American colonies. In 1807, Congress passes the Embargo Act, designed to force peace between Britain and France by cutting off all trade with Europe. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sends a message to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah." In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus is eventually vindicated.) In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for a wartime conference with President Franklin Roosevelt. In 1963, an official 30-day mourning period following the assassination of President Kennedy comes to an end. In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shoots four black youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him. In 1989, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europe's hard-line Communist rulers, is toppled from power in a popular uprising. In 1991, the body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, is found dumped along a highway in Lebanon. In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tries to ignite explosives in his shoes, but is subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers.
December 22, 1978: Everett Aviation Inc., which has accused the city of operating a monopoly at Youngstown Municipal Airport, says it is willing to pay $5,200 more per year to lease the airport's new hangar than Beckett Aviation is paying.
The badly decomposed bodies of five young men are found in the crawl space of a home in Chicago owned by John Gacy, a 37-year-old man who frequently played a clown at children's functions.
December 22, 1963: Bitter cold weather this Christmas season brings more hardships to welfare families on this year's reduced relief allowances. Social workers report a serious lack of winter clothing, especially for men and children.
The clubhouse at the Waterford Park race track at Newell, W. Va., is destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at $100,000.
December 22, 1953: Mayor-elect Frank X. Kryzan announces 14 more appointments to his administration during a turbulent session with the Democratic executive committee. Atty. Felix S. Mika is named law director and Atty. Jack W. Nybell is finance director.
Dec. 21, 1953, may well go down in history as one of the greatest shopping days on record in downtown Youngstown. Reports of whopping retail sales came from all sides, If it had not rained in the evening, downtown stores may not have been capable of handling the crowds, says E.V. Eidel, chairman of the Retail Merchants Board of the Chamber of Commerce.
The Youngstown Board of Education awards contracts for 4,000 tons of deep-mined coal from the Evans Coal Co. at $8.40 a ton and 3,000 tons of egg coal from the Triple A. Coal Co. at $6.75 a ton.
December 22, 1928: Excellent business conditions spur a pre-Christmas shopping binge estimated at $3.5 million in Youngstown on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22.
President Coolidge grants a full pardon to former Rep., John W. Langley of Kentucky who was convicted of conspiracy to violate prohibition laws and served a term in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta. Langley's wife, Katherine, was elected to his seat in the House after his conviction.