Today is Monday, Dec. 8, the 343rd day of 2008. There are 23 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Monday, Dec. 8, the 343rd day of 2008. There are 23 days left in the year. On this date in 1941, the United States enters World War II as Congress declares war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s retreating army crosses the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania. In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaims the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announces his plan for the Reconstruction of the South. In 1886, the American Federation of Labor is founded in Columbus, Ohio. In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government moves from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists press their attacks. In 1978, former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir dies in Jerusalem at age 80. In 1980, rock star John Lennon is shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by an apparently deranged fan. In 1982, a man demanding an end to nuclear weapons holds the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claims are inside a van. After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer is shot dead by police; it turns out there were no explosives. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev sign a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signs into U.S. law the North American Free Trade Agreement, which goes into effect at the start of 1994.

December 8, 1983: The East Liverpool Civil Service Commission orders city leaders to reinstate with full back pay 14 policemen and firemen who were laid off nearly two months earlier because the commission did not receive prior notification of the impending layoffs.

Robert E. Jennings of 409 Breaden Ave. receives a surprise when he opens his Ohio Edison bill and finds his normal bill of about $20 has jumped to $8,312. The company says the bill is apparently a computer error.

The Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority holds a banquet to mark the agency’s 50th anniversary. The agency was organized Dec. 7, 1933; Youngstown became the first city in the United States to inaugurate slum clearance and low-cost housing under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937.

December 8, 1968: Pfc. Terrance S. Gray, 21, of 1473 Ford Ave., wounded four times in Vietnam in September, arrives home in Youngstown for Christmas on a convalescent leave. Gray arrived at Youngstown Municipal Airport on a C-54 Naval Reserve aircraft, still in a body cast from the chest down, but grinning ear-to-ear.

More than 2,000 Liberty Township residents sign petitions to separate Liberty Township from the city of Girard, saying that Girard voters are dominating township politics while township residents have no say in city affairs.

December 8, 1958: Sharon General Hospital opens its doors to the public to formally dedicate a 4-story, $1.2 million addition. The 42 new beds bring the hospital’s capacity to 296 beds and 50 bassinets.

The Youngstown area suffers its worst blow from polio in 1958 since 1955, with one death and six cases of paralysis among 34 persons stricken and cared for in Youngstown hospitals.

Four students are chosen from among 194 contestants to represent Mahoning County In the Prince of Peace speaking contest. They are Susan Gow, Linda Edmiston, Carolyn Zander and Jack Hamilton.

December 8, 1933: Many city employees are more fearful of losing their jobs than at any time since 1927 amid reports that as many as a third of Youngstown’s municipal workforce may be laid off.

The first Christmas tree shipments of cut balsams and Vermont spruce arrive in Youngstown, priced at between 25 cents and $2.

Youngstown Police Chief Leroy Goodwin is named to a committee of 21 police officials who will carry on a concerted fight against crime in the state.