Sunday, December 19, 2010
Today is Sunday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2010. There are 12 days left in the year.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
On this date in:
1777: Gen. George Washington leads his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.
1813: British forces capture Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.
1843: “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, is first published in England.
1910: The artificial fiber rayon is first commercially produced by the American Viscose Co. of Marcus Hook, Pa.
1946: War breaks out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launch widespread attacks against the French.
1950: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1960: Fire breaks out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard; 50 civilian workers are killed.
1972: Apollo 17 splashes down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1998: President Bill Clinton is impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice.
VINDICATOR FILES
1985: Youngstown City Council delays action on proposed pay raises for Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro and administrators, but increases the salaries of the wives who act as council aides by 4 percent, retroactive to 1984.
Binding arbitration appears almost certain for Warren and its firefighters after both reject a recommendation issued by a fact finder.
Strouss department store in downtown Youngstown is opening a “warehouse store” on the fifth floor, a move that its president, Larry Mickley, believes will strengthen the downtown operation.
1970: FBI agents say they have evidence of a large-scale loansharking operation run in Northeast Ohio by Anthony “Tony the Dope” Delsanter of Warren, former operator of the Jungle Inn gambling den.
James Melnick, 17, a Boardman High School senior, captures first place in the 24th annual Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy contest held at Radio Station WBBW.
State Sen. Harry Meshel tells the Ohio Board of Regents the state should have four new medical schools, one in Youngstown, Akron, Dayton and at Ohio University in Athens.
1960: Three hooded gunmen steal nearly $50,000 from the night depository in the Mahoning National Bank’s Boardman branch after obtaining keys and a combination from bank teller Robert Macauley, whom they accosted at home. He was held hostage with his wife and two sons at their home at 7734 Hitchcock Road. Three brothers are arrested hours later.
The Rev. William A. Hughes, principal of Mooney High School, suspends 18 boys for holding an unchaperoned “stag party” at which alcohol was served.
1935: Youngstown City Council fails to act on legislation to install trackless electric trolley service in the city after three councilmen defeated in November, James S. Taylor, Wesley Dodson and Michael J. Kirwan, fail to attend a meeting, denying the body a quorum.
Attempts are underway to rescue 500 wild ducks stranded in heavy oil near Cleveland. The first six are rushed to Brookside Zoo, where they are washed with soap and show signs of recovering.
When George Hall, 9, “ditched” his little brother and ran toward the Mahoning River in Niles, his brother reported him missing and firemen started dragging the river. George emerged from a movie house hours later, watched the dragging operations for a while without knowing for whom they were searching, and went home, where he startled and delighted his mourning parents.