Today is Sunday, Dec. 12, the 347th day of 2004. There are 19 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Sunday, Dec. 12, the 347th day of 2004. There are 19 days left in the year. On this date in 1787, Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1870, Joseph H. Rainey, of South Carolina, becomes the first black lawmaker sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1897, "The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks, makes its debut in the New York Journal. In 1913, authorities in Florence, Italy, announce that the "Mona Lisa," stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1911, has been recovered. In 1917, Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb. In 1975, Sara Jane Moore pleads guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San Francisco the previous September. In 1985, 248 American soldiers and eight crew members are killed when an Arrow Air charter crashes after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland. In 2000, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reverses a state court decision for recounts in Florida's contested election, transforming George W. Bush into the president-elect.
December 12, 1979: Voters in Beaver Township's second precinct pass four issues in a special election allowing the sale of beer, wine and liquor in the township.
Niles Service Director Joseph Marino and Mayor Arthur Doutt announce a 6 percent reduction of electric and water rates.
December 12, 1964: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approves a rate increases of 15 percent, retroactive to Nov. 1 for the East Ohio Gas Co.'s 850,000 customers.
Raymond H. Lohr, division manager of the East Ohio Gas Co., is elected to a three-year-term on the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
A Michigan truck driver trying to bring his rig to a stop to comply with the law requiring him to stop for a school bus, goes into a skid on Edinburg Hill on Rt. 422 outside New Castle. The rig jack-knifed and struck the bus, killing a 9-year-old boy and injuring 20 other children.
December 12, 1954: Youngstown College President Howard W. Jones launches a campaign to raise $2 million for a five-year development plan that will allow the college to serve 5,000 students, half day students and half at night.
The United States launches the mightiest warship of any nation, the supercarrier Forrestal, at Newport News, Va. She is christened by Mrs. James Forrestal, widow of the first secretary of defense.
For the second consecutive year, Lawrence County passes the peak of the polio season with only a minimum of cases reported. Just nine persons were stricken with the disease, one more than in 1953, and there were no fatalities.
December 12, 1929: Otto Reichle, superintendent of the mails in Youngstown, predicts that 1929 Christmas mail will exceed that of a year earlier by 10 percent. Receipts at the post office in November were $69,053, compared to $56,425 a year earlier.
The Carnegie Steel Co. announce plans to spend $3 million on a new 10-inch bar mill at the McDonald mills.
Mrs. E.L. McKelvey, representing the Federated Women's Clubs of Youngstown, tells the Lions Club that Youngstown women are committed to see the smoke nuisance eliminated in the Mahoning Valley.
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