Today is Thursday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2006. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives at 7:22 p.m. EST. On this date in 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower go ashore for the first time

Today is Thursday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2006. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives at 7:22 p.m. EST. On this date in 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower go ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
In 1804, British statesman Benjamin Disraeli is born in London. In 1913, the first crossword puzzle is published, in the New York World. In 1942, the Supreme Court rules all states have to recognize divorces granted in Nevada. In 1945, Gen. George S. Patton dies in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident. In 1948, the state of Eire, or Ireland (formerly the Irish Free State), declares its independence. In 1968, Apollo 8 is launched on a mission to orbit the moon. In 1971, the U.N. Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary General. In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant breaks apart near Nantucket Island almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.
December 21, 1981: The Mahoning County Budget Commission amends the final certificate of 1981 to a total of 14.5 million, about 1.6 million more than expected. The county will end the year in the black.
Advertisement: Youngstown's boxing hero, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, will face Manuel Abedoy in a 10-round lightweight bout at Bally's Park Place casino hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., Dec. 26. Tickets are 10 and 20.
The Grant M. Cook Bird Club's annual Christmas bird census held in conjunction with the National Audobon Society's count shows crows being the most numerous at 4,336. Also counted were 428 Canada geese, 50 snow geese and 46 whistling swans.
December 21, 1966: About half of Warren's police and fire departments report off sick in a move interpreted as a reply to the city's refusal to grant higher wages and fringe benefits.
Stephen F. Butala, 70, of Sharon dies less than two hours after he was struck by a taxi-cab as he crossed a driveway near his home.
Eighty-five percent of the nonprofessional employees at Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital votes overwhelmingly in favor of their own bargaining association in preference to an outside union.
December 21, 1956: An 18-month-old girl, Sheila Jones, dies when fire sweeps through a four-room dwelling at 26 10th St., Campbell. Three other youngsters under 6 years old are rescued by neighbors who saw smoke coming from the building.
Youngstown Patrolman Donald Glass has a deep wound on his little finger, which he got when he wedged his finger between the hammer and chamber of his service revolver, which kept him from being shot during a struggle with a man being arrested for drunken driving. The man pulled the trigger of Glass' revolver three times, each time the hammer struck Glass' finger rather than the cartridge in the chamber.
Guion Osborn, district commercial manager for the Ohio Bell Telephone Co., is elected president of the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce.
December 21, 1931: Two bandits escape with 700 in a daring high-noon robbery of Jim Bombolis, operator of a W. Federal Street restaurant.
Lawrence Hubbard, 18, a star Rayen football player and member of the January graduating class, dies of a bullet wound from his grandfather's Spanish-American War gun, which he was showing to two friends, William Herbert and A.E. Wick Jr.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Ray L. Thomas asks the county to pay him 4,250 he spent to fight a citizen petition to remove him on charges that included bribery.