Today is Sunday, Dec. 28, the 363rd day of 2008. There are three days left in the year. On this date

December 28, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Sunday, Dec. 28, the 363rd day of 2008. There are three days left in the year. On this date in 1832, John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Andrew Jackson.

In 1897, the play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris. In 1945, Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1958, the Baltimore Colts win the NFL championship, defeating the New York Giants 23-17 in overtime at Yankee Stadium. In 1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes “Gulag Archipelago,” an expose of the Soviet prison system. In 1987, the bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons are found at his home near Dover, Ark., following a shooting rampage by Simmons in Russellville that claimed two other lives. (Simmons is later executed.)

December 28, 1983: Cleveland Browns Quarterback Brian Sipe is the latest NFL player to jump from the NFL to the new U.S. Football League, signing a contract with the New Jersey Generals for $1.9 million over two years. The Browns had reportedly offered $2 million over four years.

Youngstown mayor George Vukovich is expected to file for about $24,000 in accumulated vacation time and sick leave before leaving office. He amassed 608 hours of unused vacation and 1,885 hours of sick leave as mayor and, before that, as clerk of city council.

December 28, 1968: A crowd of 1,500 give three standing ovations to 100 young singers who participated in the first annual “Sing Out Youngstown” show at Calvary Temple.

The Rev. Stephen Pressey begins his duties as vicar of St. Rocco’s Episcopal Church.

December 28, 1958: Bitter cold improves ice skating conditions in the area, with dozens of skaters taking to the ice on the lake at Packard Park in Warren.

Charles Koonse and James Watkins, both members of Boy Scout Troop 52, sponsored by the Indianola Methodist Church, will receive Scouting’s highest award, the Eagle badge.

December 28, 1933: Angered at being told to go to bed, Casper Powell, 81, of W. Indiana Avenue, Sebring, kills Miss Frances Guerenno, 22, a maid in his home, with a bullet intended for his son, Harry, 40. Powell is in the Mahoning County Jail, where he expressed regret: “Harry is the one I should have shot and not the girl,” whom he described as one of the nicest girls he ever met.

Julius Kahn, president of Truscon Steel Co., returns to Youngstown from Japan and says Truscon will maintain equal ownership of its Japanese subsidiary, Japanese Steel Products Co., with a Japanese holding company, Mitsui, because in a nationalistic spirit, Japan wants all Japanese companies to be operated by the Japanese.