Today is Thursday, Dec. 16, the 351st day of 2004. There are 15 days left in the year. On his date

Today is Thursday, Dec. 16, the 351st day of 2004. There are 15 days left in the year. On his date in 1944, the World War II Battle of the Bulge begins as German forces launch a surprise counter-attack against Allied forces in Belgium.
In 1653, Oliver Cromwell becomes lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1770, composer Ludwig van Beethoven is born in Bonn, Germany. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party takes place as American colonists board a British ship and dump more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes. In 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte is divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate. In 1916, Gregory Rasputin, the monk who'd wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, is killed by a group of noblemen. In 1950, President Truman proclaims a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism." In 1960, 134 people are killed when a United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide over New York City. In 1985, reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano is shot to death outside a New York City restaurant. In 1986, Ronald W. Pelton, a former National Security Agency employee convicted of selling defense secrets to the Soviet Union, is sentenced by a judge in Baltimore to life in prison. In 1991, the U.N. General Assembly rescinds its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a vote of 111-25.
December 16, 1979: One of the 50 hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Iran is identified as Gary Lee, 36, a 1970 graduate of Youngstown State University, who lived on Indianola Avenue in Youngstown while working and going to school in the city.
Personal income in four of Mahoning County's 14 school districts is above the state average of $14,879. Incomes in Canfield, Boardman, Poland and Western Reserve range from $15,146 to $19,751. Youngstown ranks 517th out of the state's 616 school districts at $12,847.
Marine, Army and Air Force recruiters in Youngstown report that as jobs become scarce, enlistments have increased over the past year, with no let-up in sight.
December 16, 1964: The Youngstown Committee on Alcoholism kicks off a capital funds drive for a new building with a luncheon in the Teak Room of the Youngstown Club. The Lincoln Avenue clinic has been in operation since 1946 and handles 90 to 100 patients a month.
Dr. Robert Burton Poling, for many years one of the city's leading physicians, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in St. Elizabeth Hospital. He practiced internal medicine from 1926 to 1960 and was former president of the Mahoning County Medical Society, president of the staff of St. Elizabeth Hospital and president of Woodside Hospital.
December 16, 1954: Youngstown Rotary Club members play host at Hotel Pick-Ohio to 75 district crippled children, serving a fine dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes, and making sure each child received a gift from Santa. Nick Tecau entertained with his magic tricks.
Two suspected hold-up men are arrested two hours after a 9 a.m. robbery of the McAllister Farm Market at 501 Albert St. The getaway car, which was abandoned near the market, was owned by the uncle of one of the men.
House Democrats are discussing a change in House rules that would limit to 21 days the amount of time that the Rules Committee could keep another committee's legislation from coming to the floor for a vote. Existing procedures give the committee the power to block legislation almost indefinitely.
December 16, 1929: A flight around the world in a four-motor Fokker airplane that is under construction at a cost of $160,000 is being planned by Harry A. Husted, a former Youngstown resident who is president of the Husted Rubber Wheel Co. of Akron.
Dr. W.H. Hudnut, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, terms the interference with the work on the Meander Dam project as "despicable, spiteful and petty." Supporters of the water district are visionaries, he said.