Today is Friday, Dec. 26, the 361st day of 2008. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day

Today is Friday, Dec. 26, the 361st day of 2008. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day. On this date in 1908, Jack Johnson becomes the first African-American boxer to win the world heavyweight championship as he defeats Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. (Johnson’s victory sparks a search for a “great white hope” who would reclaim the title; Jess Willard accomplishes the feat in 1915.)

In 1799, former President George Washington is eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” In 1917, during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issues a proclamation authorizing the government to take over operation of the nation’s railroads. In 1941, Winston Churchill becomes the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium, is relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division. In 1947, heavy snow blankets the Northeast, burying New York City under 26.4 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather is blamed for some 80 deaths. In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, dies in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88. In 1996, 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, Colo. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved, despite a widely publicized “confession” by John Mark Karr.) In 1998, British mogul Richard Branson, American millionaire Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand of Sweden give up their attempt to make the first non-stop, round-the-world balloon flight seven days into their journey, ditching off Hawaii. In 2003, 16 people are killed by mudslides that sweep over campgrounds in California’s San Bernardino Valley; Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf survives a second assassination bid in 11 days, but 16 other people, including three suicide bombers, are killed. In 2004, more than 200,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, are killed by a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean. In 2006, former President Gerald R. Ford dies in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

December 26, 1983: A new Ohio law will require drivers applying for a driver’s license or license plates to sign sworn statements certifying that they carry and will maintain liability insurance coverage.

After two consecutive days of record low temperatures, the mercury is rising and may break the freezing mark within a day.

Lewis W. Macklin, a senior at Woodrow Wilson High School, wins first place in Mahoning County in the 37th annual Voice of Democracy Speech contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

December 26, 1968: Christmas Day in Youngstown was white, sparkling and colder than it has been for 20 years, with a temperature of 7 registered at Youngstown Municipal Airport.

Samuel Seltzer, 32, dies in a blaze that swept through his home at 496 Sherwood Ave.

Youngstown residents set a record with 87,324 long distance telephone calls on Christmas Day, reports the Ohio Bell Telephone Co.

December 26, 1958: Outgoing Christmas mail in Youngstown decreases from 7.2 million pieces in 1957 to 6.7 million in 1958, says Youngstown Postmaster John E. Doyle.

Vindicator Carrier David Shepherd of Trumbull County gets a tour of a United Airlines cabin before taking off from Youngstown Municipal Airport for an 11-day trip to Hawaii with other top newspaper carriers from around the country. The farthest David, 13, has been away from home was a family trip from Southington to Kentucky.

Pennsylvania liquor enforcement agents name five people for transporting liquor from Ohio into Pennsylvania near Sharon, Pa. The agents are cracking down on cross-boarder liquor traffic for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The agents stopped 300 vehicles. One man was driving a panel truck with 32 cases of liquor.

December 26, 1933: The Toledo Court of Appeals upholds the conviction of Cyrus Neff, wealthy Canfield businessman, for second- degree murder in connection with the shooting death of his wife.

More than 2,000 needy children were supplied with Christmas toys as a result of the Sigma Club toy campaign.

The freighter “Youngstown” is involved in a harbor accident in New York, colliding with a ferryboat during a blinding New York snowstorm. None of the 300 passengers on the ferry was injured.