Today is Wednesday, Dec. 22, the 357th day of 2004. There are nine days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 22, the 357th day of 2004. There are nine days left in the year. On this date in 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replies "Nuts!" when the Germans demand that the Americans surrender.
In 1807, Congress passes the Embargo Act, designed to force peace between Britain and France by cutting off all trade with Europe. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sends a message to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah." In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus is eventually vindicated.) In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for a wartime conference with President Roosevelt. In 1963, an official 30-day mourning period following the assassination of President Kennedy comes to an end. In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shoots four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him. In 1989, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europe's hard-line Communist rulers, is toppled from power in a popular uprising. In 1991, the body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, is found dumped along a highway in Lebanon. In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tries to ignite explosives in his shoes, but is subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers.
December 22, 1979: The prices Americans pay for goods and services rose 1 percent in November, pushing the Consumer Price Index to more than double that of a decade ago. If December registers a similar increase, 1979 will end with an annual rate of 13 percent, the highest since 1946, when World War II price controls were lifted.
Mayoral candidates in Trumbull County's six major cities and villages spent $70,000 in the 1979 primary and general elections. Warren's Mayor-elect Daniel Sferra led all candidates, spending $33,000 in June and November elections.
The Hermitage Board of Commissioners approves a wage tax increase from 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, of which a third will go to the township school district.
December 22, 1964: The General Fireproofing Co. buys up 121,558 shares of GF common stock owned by Rockwell Standard Co. at $35 a share, for a total of $4.2 million.
The British House of Commons votes overwhelmingly for abolition of the death penalty for murderers.
Two bandits, one with a shotgun and the other carrying a rifle, accost an IGA Grocery Store employee and his police escort in Salem and escape with the day's receipts in the officer's cruiser.
December 22, 1954: A lone bandit holds 13 persons at gunpoint while he robs the Domestic Finance Corp. office on the second floor at 26 N. Phelps St. of about $1,000.
First Ward Councilman Michael J. McCullion demands that Police Chief Paul Cress shuts down "wide open barbut games in South Avenue."
After five days of deliberations, a Cleveland jury finds Dr. Sam Sheppard guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Marilyn. The conviction precludes the death penalty, but could bring life in prison.
December 22, 1929: Youngstown City Council refuses to act on legislation authorizing the purchase of 34 new buses by the Youngstown Municipal Railway Co. until council as a whole has an opportunity to inspect the buses that traction chief Gary Engles says must be replaced.
President Herbert Hoover promotes Antarctic explorer Richard Evelyn Byrd to the rank of rear admiral, making him, at 41, the youngest living naval officer holding the highest rank possible during peacetime.
Santa Claus will sweep out of the sky in an airplane at the Bernard airport to present gifts of toys and candy to the children of needy Veterans of Foreign Wars. A chartered bus will take the children from Phelps Street to the airport.