Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 354th day of 2008. There are 12 days left in the year. On this date in

December 19, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 354th day of 2008. There are 12 days left in the year. On this date in 1843, “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, is first published in England.

In 1777, Gen. George Washington leads his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter. In 1813, British forces capture Fort Niagara during the War of 1812. In 1907, 239 workers die in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.

December 19, 1983: The state of Maryland is wooing Advanced Turbo Manufacturing Inc., an Ohio company that has been considering setting up shop in the vacant Commuter Aircraft Corp. building in Vienna Township. ATM revamps airplanes.

The five-week strike at Leonard Kirtz School and two workshops for the mentally retarded ends when teachers ratify a three-year contract.

In what was probably Brian Sipes’ last appearance in Cleveland as Browns quarterback, he leads the team to a 30-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots to edge the Browns out of the last AFC wild card spot.

December 19, 1968: Charles J. Carney, a Youngstown Democrat, is elected unanimously as minority leader in the Ohio Senate.

Mayor Anthony B. Flask names Robert Shipka, 30, former education and training director for the Community Action Council, to the new post of Model Cities director at $11,200.

The flu epidemic causes the Youngstown Hospital Association and St. Elizabeth Hospital to cancel pre-Christmas entertainment for patients as a precautionary measure.

December 19, 1958: Ensign George T. Bergman of Canfield, a graduate of South High and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, is lost at sea when a giant wave washes over Coast Guard cutter Bresham in the Pacific Ocean.

While working on a preliminary 1959 budget, Youngstown City Council balks at including $145,000 requested by the administration to hire additional employees for sidewalk repair, garbage collection, traffic planning and other departments.

George McCuskey, vice president of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., is elected president of the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce.

December 19, 1933: Truscon Steel Co. President Julius Kahn is on his way back to Youngstown from Japan, where he amalgamated the company’s steel business in Japan with the powerful Mitsui Corp., headed by Baron Hachiroemon Mitsui, the world’s richest man.

Finance Director Hugh D. Hindman says the city bought $15,000 worth of tools for men working in CWA projects, but received only 10 percent in reimbursement from the federal government.