Today is Monday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2003. There are two days left in the year. On this date

Today is Monday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2003. There are two days left in the year. On this date in 1845, Texas is admitted as the 28th state.
In 1808, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, is born in Raleigh, N.C. In 1813, the British burn Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812. In 1851, the first American Young Men's Christian Association is organized, in Boston. In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre takes place in South Dakota as some 300 Sioux Indians are killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them. In 1934, Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. In 1940, during World War II, Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London. In 1957, singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme are married in Las Vegas.
December 29, 1978: Mahoning County Engineer Michael Fitas warns commissioners that the county's bridges are in such disrepair that they are a critical safety problem and there are no funds to fix them.
Ohio Edison Co. will seek a $125 million a year rate increase from the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, with at least half to be on an emergency basis to help ease the company's "severely strained" financial condition.
Americans face higher Social Security taxes in 1979, with the brunt falling on workers who earn more than $17,700, which was the maximum income on which Social Security deductions were made in 1978. The threshold will rise to $22,900 in 1979.
December 29, 1963: Youngstown district steel mills are beginning to juggle their inventories of raw and finished steel with the help of electronic brains to smooth out the peaks and valleys of their business cycles. Computers are expected to save hundreds of thousands annually in operating costs.
Dr. Jack Schreiber of Canfield takes the helm of the 300-member Mahoning County Medical Society. At 36 years old, he will be the youngest president in the society's history.
The Youngstown Public Library installs a coin-operated duplicating machine that copies printed pages from newspapers, magazines and books at a speed of nine seconds a page. The cost is 25 cents per page.
December 29, 1953: Youngstown Mayor-elect Frank X. Kryzan says he will designate his first assistant law director, Frank Battisti, to handle the prosecution of Bernard Bloch on charges of selling or distributing a paper-back edition of "Down All Your Streets," which the Henderson administration deemed to be obscene.
Pittsburgh Mayor David L. Lawrence launches an all-out campaign for a 1 percent city wage tax to continue what he terms the "great renaissance" of the steel producing city. In Cleveland, the head of the firefighters union suggests the city pursue a similar income tax.
Youngstown Police Chief Edward J. Allen submits a 13-page summary of his department's accomplishments over six years. Felonious crimes are down 35 percent, traffic fatalities down by 50 percent and only one of three rackets men who were shaking down bookies in 1948 is left in town, and that one, "Fats" Aiello, has been "reduced to penury and impotency."
December 29, 1928: Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. common stock advances to a new high of 1151/2 on the New York Stock Exchange, registering an advance over two days of 121/2 points.
John J. Richeson, superintendent of Youngstown's public schools, is elected president of the Ohio State Teachers Association during the association's convention in Columbus. Also vying for the post were A.W. Yawberg, Cuyahoga County superintendent, and E.O. McGowan, Scioto County superintendent.
Statistics compiled by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People show nine lynchings in the United States during 1928, the lowest total in 40 years that the association has been keeping records.