This Day in History

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2010. There are 24 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1796: Electors choose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.

1836: Martin Van Buren is elected the eighth president of the United States.

1909: Chemist Leo H. Baekeland receives a U.S. patent for Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic.

1941: Japanese warplanes attack the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as well as other American and British bases in the Pacific, prompting the U.S. to enter World War II.

1946: Fire breaks out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze kills 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.

1970: Cartoonist Rube Goldberg, known for drawing wacky contraptions meant to perform simple tasks, dies in New York at age 87.

1972: America’s last moon mission to date is launched as Apollo 17 blasts off from Cape Canaveral.

1985: Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart dies in Hanover, N.H. at age 70.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Gerry Faust, who resigned as coach of Notre Dame University, comes to Youngstown to discuss the vacant head coaching job at Youngstown State University.

School children and choir members gather on Federal Plaza for the annual “Keep Christ in Christmas” program.

1970: Officials and community leaders from Youngstown, Akron and Kent urge the Ohio Board of Regents to locate a medical college in their respective communities.

Winds of up to 54 mph buffet the nation’s capital, and topple the 78-foot spruce Christmas tree which was being decorated at the White House.

1960: Youngstown area business leaders urge city council to amend the city’s smoke ordinance to permit Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. to allow the company to install oxygen jets on its Campbell open hearths.

Sheriff-elect Ray T. Davis appoints 37 deputy sheriffs, among them a retired city detective and retired city fireman. Davis is keeping only one holdover from the Paul Langley administration, Larry Senna, the civil defense coordinator.

1935: Carnegie-Illinois Steel’s new $8 million McDonald strip mill goes into production; it will produce enough sheets to build 75,000 automobiles a month.

Deputies smash down the door and arrest five men and two women at a numbers bank on Mahoning Avenue.