Today is Thursday, Dec. 9, the 344th day of 2004. There are 22 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, Dec. 9, the 344th day of 2004. There are 22 days left in the year. On this date in 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," is published in England.
In 1608, English poet John Milton is born in London. In 1907, Christmas seals go on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office; proceeds go to fight tuberculosis. In 1940, British troops open their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II. In 1942, the Aram Khachaturian ballet "Gayane," featuring the surging "Saber Dance," is first performed by the Kirov Ballet. In 1958, the anti-Communist John Birch Society is formed in Indianapolis. In 1965, Nikolai V. Podgorny replaces Anastas I. Mikoyan as president of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. In 1979, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the religious broadcaster, dies in New York City at age 84. In 1984, the five-day-old hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner that claims the lives of two Americans ends as Iranian security men seize control of the plane, which was parked at Tehran airport. In 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa wins Poland's presidential runoff by a landslide.
December 9, 1979: As gasoline approaches a dollar a gallon, Robert Robinson of Campbell is hoping to pick up more riders on the buses he runs from five pick-up points in Youngstown to the General Motors plant at Lordstown. At its peak, the jitney service has had about 30 customers paying $15 a week.
A three-mile fun run sponsored by the First United Methodist Church in West Austintown raises $5,000 for the Dino Baird fund to help pay for treatment of a 2-year-old Struthers boy who was severely burned when acid was thrown into a car in which he was sleeping.
Two officials of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Columbus recommend that Youngstown be given a three-month grace period before its Community Development Block Grant funds are revoked.
December 9, 1964: United Construction Co. announces plans for a major addition to the Westwood Plaza at New and Raccoon roads in Austintown. A national variety store, a drug store, women's ready-to-wear and chain shoe store will move into the plaza.
At least 21 major Ohio conventions have been booked for Youngstown in 1965, says Worth C. Edwards, chairman of the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce Conventions and Visitors Committee. Edwards says that Youngstown area facilities can accommodate 75 percent of all conventions and meetings held in the United States.
Candidates for queen of the Youngstown Hospital Association nursing school are Hazel Gocisset, Sandra Ruppel, Doreen Jones and Karen Stolle. The queen will be crowned during the school's Christmas dance at the Idora Park Ballroom.
December 9, 1954: Youngstown City Engineer James C. Ryan says he will order as much cleanup of Central Square as is possible to clear the way for the Christmas rush. The Ramm Construction Co. is running behind on the square remodeling project, with only about 75 percent of the work completed.
Three Youngstown hunters capture a Beloit man shortly after he allegedly raped a 26-year-old Deerfield woman in her home. The hunters, Raymond Kramer, William Lantz and Stephen Bacak, captured the man as he was attempting to flee in a truck and held him at gunpoint until Portage County deputies arrived.
The Lausche administration intends to build a proposed north-south super highway from Cincinnati to Conneaut entirely as a toll road. The turnpike would also have a leg going from Columbus to Toledo.
December 9, 1929: The Supreme Court of the United States delays until March a decision on whether to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars asks Youngstown City Council to block any further appointments to the city police and fire departments because a charter provision requiring that veterans be given preference is being ignored.
The number of members on the Youngstown Board of Education will be reduced through attrition from nine to seven to bring the board into compliance with state law.