Today is Friday, Dec. 3, the 338th day of 2004. There are 28 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Dec. 3, the 338th day of 2004. There are 28 days left in the year. On this date in 1984, thousands of people die after a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas escapes from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India. (About 4,000 people die within hours of the leak; the Indian government estimates 15,000 people have died over the years. )
In 1818, Illinois is admitted as the 21st state. In 1828, Andrew Jackson is elected president of the United States. In 1925, "Concerto in F," by George Gershwin, has its world premiere at New York's Carnegie Hall, with Gershwin himself at the piano. In 1947, the Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire" opens on Broadway. In 1953, the musical "Kismet" opens on Broadway. In 1960, the musical "Camelot" opens on Broadway. In 1964, police arrest some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, one day after the students storm the administration building and stage a massive sit-in. In 1967, surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard perform the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky, who lives 18 days with the new heart. In 1979, 11 people are killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, where the British rock group The Who was performing. In 1992, the Greek tanker Aegean Sea spills 21.5 million gallons of crude oil when it runs aground at La Coruna, Spain.
December 3, 1979: The defense sparks the Cleveland Browns to a 14-7 victory over the Houston Oilers, keeping the Browns' playoff hopes alive at 9-5, and knocking the Oilers (10-4) out of a first place tie with the Steelers (11-5) in their division.
Ohio's daily lottery game, The Number, begins three weeks after it was scheduled to start. Problems with the lottery's complex computer system caused several delays.
Youngstown State University will go ahead with its 16,000-seat stadium and sports complex, but will look for ways to trim costs since bids came in 15.7 percent above estimates. The electrical contract, which came in 52 percent above the estimate, will be rebid.
December 3, 1964: Ralph W. Dickson, general superintendent of U.S. Steel Corp., is elected to the board of directors of the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds Laurin D. Woodworth, who retired from U.S. Steel.
Charles Toten, 35, of New Castle, Pa., dies when the foundation excavation for a home being built on Pawnee Drive in Poland collapses, burying him beneath tons of earth.
Contracts are signed and work will begin immediately on a $1.5 million student center at Youngstown University, the first step in the university's long-range, $20 million development plan.
December 3, 1954: The Ohio Highway Department has proposed a $302 million road-building program, which will include $4.2 million for improvements to Route 422 in the Youngstown area.
Three construction workers on their way to work at the Ohio turnpike are killed when the Baltimore & amp; Ohio's Shenandoah Limited smashes into their car near Newton Falls. Dead are Robert Mills and Lorn Green, both of Youngstown, and Frank Dellinger of Warren.
A state auditor's report says Massillon State Hospital is in a state of neglect and decay, presenting "a most woebegone and gloomy appearance."
December 3, 1929: Irked that his ice skating party was turned away at Lake Newport, Youngstown Atty. C.H. Dyson appears at a city council meeting and suggests that the city, not the park board, should oversee operation of the park. Dyson said a park policeman claimed the ice was too thin to allow skating, but he found the ice to be six inches thick.
Youngstown School Superintendent J.J. Richeson says teacher load will be increased from 37 to 40 pupils per classroom, thus freeing teachers to be reassigned when teachers resign. The district faces a shortfall of $550,000 in its projected 1930 budget. Richeson says about 100 teachers resign each year, most of them at the end of the session.
Edsel Ford, president of Ford Motor Co., announces that minimum daily wages at Ford factories will be increased from $6 to $7, at a cost of $20 million to the company. Some employees will be earning $10 per day. Ford startled the industrial world in 1914 by announcing that daily wages would be increased from $2.34 per day to $5.