Today is Wednesday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2005. There are 80 days left in the year. Yom Kippur,

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2005. There are 80 days left in the year. Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins at sunset. On this date in 1492 (Old Style calendar; Oct. 21 New Style), Christopher Columbus arrives with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas.
In 1870, General Robert E. Lee dies in Lexington, Va., at age 63. In 1915, former President Theodore Roosevelt criticizes the concept of "hyphenated Americanism," referring to U.S. citizens who identify themselves by dual nationalities. In 1915, English nurse Edith Cavell is executed by the Germans in occupied Belgium during World War I. In 1933, bank robber John Dillinger escapes from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff. In 1942, President Roosevelt delivers one of his so-called "fireside chats" in which he recommends the drafting of 18- and 19-year-old men. In 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupts a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding his desk with a shoe during a dispute. In 1964, the Soviet Union launches a Voskhod space capsule with a three-man crew on the first manned mission involving more than one crew member.
October 12, 1980: Sharon city taxpayers can expect to pay an additional 2 or more mills of property tax under the 1981 budget, most for pay increases for city employees under contracts that call for $1,200 more per year for each of the city's 64 police and firemen.
As many as 20,000 people are feared dead and an estimated 250,000 are injured or homeless after a major earthquake in the Algerian city of Al Asnam.
Prince Andrej of the Royal House of Yugoslavia and Bishop Ireney of Chicago, head of the Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church of the American-Canadian Diocese, receive keys to the city of Youngstown during a reception at the Youngstown Country Club hosted by Dr. Richard Murray.
October 12, 1965: Unless Americans can share the ability Columbus had to look beyond the huge problems facing him to the opportunities that awaited him, they will never discover a new world as he did, Dr. David M. Behen, professor of history at Youngstown University, says during the Columbus Day program at Central Square.
Martha and the Vandellas, the Four Tops, The Temptations and Little Stevie Wonder will appear at two performances of the Biggest Show of Stars at Stambaugh Auditorium Oct. 26 and 27. Tickets: $2, $2.50 and $3. All seats reserved.
Plans for improving a major area on the East Side, the second stage in the city's overall Neighborhood Improvement Project, are outlined at a meeting of the East Side Community Council at Immaculate Conception school.
October 12, 1955: The Democratic "rebels" accused by Mayor Frank X. Kryzan of abandoning the party have not quit the party, says George Glaros, leader of Democrats Against Kryzan. Glaros says they are supporting all Democratic candidates except Kryzan.
A new mobile crime laboratory is presented to Mayor Frank X. Kryzan by Gene Murphy, president of the Youngstown Crime Clinic. The glistening white truck is plainly identified with gold and black lettering and will be outfitted with equipment already in use in the crime lab.
A $50 million dam project, biggest ever in the Upper Ohio Valley, is announced by U.S. Army Engineers. The dam will be located just below Newell, W.Va., on the Ohio River.
October 12, 1930: After several years of rigid economy in the maintenance, repair and upkeep of Youngstown schools, a large number of classrooms are found to lack sufficient equipment and material to carry on the work of educating the city's children.
Mahoning Valley temperance leaders and organized forces opposing repeal of the 18th amendment plan an intensive program to combat local support of any movement to change prohibition law.
Russell McComis, 18, of Detroit is sentenced to life imprisonment 12 hours after he shot and killed Police Sgt. Roy Shambleau in Port Huron, Mich.