Today is Monday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2009. There are three days left in the year. On this date

Today is Monday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2009. 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 because of differences with President Andrew Jackson.

In 1694, Queen Mary II of England dies after more than five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III. In 1846, Iowa becomes the 29th state to be admitted to the Union. In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, is born in Staunton, Va. In 1897, the play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris. In 1908, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami devastates the Italian city of Messina, killing at least 70,000 people. In 1917, the New York Evening Mail publishes “A Neglected Anniversary,” a facetious, as well as fictitious, essay by H.L. Mencken recounting the history of bathtubs in America. In 1944, the musical “On the Town,” with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, opens on Broadway. In 1945, Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.

December 28, 1984: Gary Van Brocklin is sworn in as Mahoning County prosecutor, the first time since 1968, when Frank P. Anzellotti Jr. left office, that Republicans have control of the office.

A North Jackson woman driving a van is killed and the driver and seven passengers on a bus operated by the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities are injured in a collision at Newton Falls Road and state Rt. 18.

U.S. Rep. James A Traficant Jr. names 11 people to his congressional staff, including Charles O’Nesti, former Youngstown fire chief.

December 28, 1969: The battle to clean up the Mahoning Valley’s murky skies and the Mahoning River’s polluted waters will be stepped up in 1970, forcing companies to spend millions of dollars in this and ensuing years on clean-up equipment.

Members of the Newman Student Organization at Youngstown State University raise $2,250 for impoverished Appalachian families by selling 450 large pine Christmas wreaths made by Appalachia residents.

U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan, 83, of Youngstown is in the intensive care unit at Bethesda Naval Hospital after suffering what was described as “an unexpected respiratory setback.”

December 28, 1959: Travelers returning home from the long Christmas weekend tax the facilities of Youngstown area train, plane and bus terminals and crowd highways.

The Rt. Rev. John H. Lenz, pastor of St. Joseph Church since 1929, dies in Shaker Heights, where he was visiting his sisters.

Mahoning Methodist Church at 2214 Mahoning Avenue will be greatly expanded by a $500,000 sanctuary and remodeling program.

December 28, 1934: Vandalism of a switch by a disgruntled employee is suspected as the cause of a derailing of a Pennsylvania Railroad train near Columbus that killed three crewmen and injured 12 others.

A daring thief climbed scaffolding at the Washington Monument and stole 107 gold-coated, platinum-tipped lightning rods valued at $856.

Carlton Dargush, Republican vice chairman of the state tax commission, says Youngstown will be one of the principal sites for administering collection of the new 3 percent sales tax, along with Toledo, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Akron.