Today is Sunday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2003. There are three days left in the year. On this date

Today is Sunday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2003. There are three days left in the year. On this date in 1945, Congress officially recognize the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1832, John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson. In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, is born in Staunton, Va. In 1897, the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris. In 1917, the New York Evening Mail publishes a facetious -- as well as fictitious -- essay by H.L. Mencken on the history of bathtubs in America. In 1937, composer Maurice Ravel dies in Paris. In 1944, the musical "On the Town" opens on Broadway. In 1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system. In 1982, Nevell Johnson Jr., a black man, is mortally wounded by a police officer in a Miami video arcade, setting off three days of race-related disturbances that left another man dead.
December 28, 1978: U.S. Steel President David Roderick says his company will file dumping charges against foreign steelmakers unless the Carter administration acts to curb cheap steel imports.
Boardman's Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., president of the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., offers to help Cleveland solve its immediate financial problems. He suggests that Cleveland area businesses guarantee the city's default loans, and he says he will guarantee $500,000 of the $15.5 million in loans.
In what was probably the most elaborate local oath-taking of the year and certainly the longest, nine Democratic officerholders are sworn in at the Mahoning County Courthouse. Judge John J. Leskovyansky, one of those being sworn in, is credited with organizing the event, which included a breakfast.
December 28, 1963: The Rev. John O. Miller, a retired 78-year-old minister, is killed when his automobile collides with another in Hickory Township. The death is Mercer County's 27th traffic fatality of the year.
Leroy McBride, 28, of Lansing Avenue, Youngstown, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his estranged wife, Rose, 24, and Fletcher Pride, 43, at 225 S. Forest Ave.
Speaking to 32 Youngstown district cadets at U.S. military academies, U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan urges them to "keep America free." He warned the cadets that they would be called upon for service in all parts of the world and urged that they understand foreign lands better than he did in his first experience in World War I.
December 28, 1953: Youngstown's Christmas tree dealers are faced with the task of disposing of hundreds of the traditional Yule decorations after sales fail to meet their expectations. Some dealers described sales as average, others said they were poor.
Detroit quarterback Bobby Layne pitches a dramatic 33-yard touchdown pass to Jim Doran to lead the Lions to a 17-16 victory of the Cleveland Browns in the National Pro Football League championship game. Some 54,577 fans saw the game in Detroit. The Browns had taken the lead with four minutes remaining on a Lou Groza field goal before the Lions marched 81 yards to win the game before a national television audience.
Three affiliated companies will merge into an $8 million corporation, Sawhill Tubular Products, which will be centralized in the Sharon area. The consolidation will bring together Mercer Tube and Manufacturing Co., Shenango Alloy Co. and Sawhill Manufacturing, says D.V. Sawhill, one of the district's leading industrialists.
December 28, 1928: The state is attempting to build a case of "moral murder" against Wilbur O. Heldman of Canton, saying he induced his 20-year-old wife to commit suicide. His wife faced a murder charge in the death of a Canton man and prosecutors say Heldman instilled in her a fear of the electric chair that led her to take her own life. The case will be difficult, prosecutors say, but cite an Indiana precedent.
E.T. McCleary, president of Republic Iron & amp; Steel Co., says his industry can look forward to the year 1929 with a great deal of optimism. President-elect Herbert Hoover's recent trip to South America will increase trade, he predicts, and the automobile industry, already a major factor in steel production, will spur industrial gains.
On the suggestion of Dr. I.E. Philo, rabbi of Rodef Shalom Temple, the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce forms a committee to establish an annual award for Youngstown's most meritorious citizen. L.A. Beeghly, president of the chamber, will be chairman of the committee.