Years Ago

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 26, the 361st day of 2012. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date 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.”

1862: Thirty-eight Santee Sioux Indians are hanged in Mankato, Minn., for their roles in an uprising that had claimed the lives of hundreds of white settlers.

1908: Jack Johnson becomes the first African-American boxer to win the world heavyweight championship as he defeats Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.

1972: The 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, dies in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88

1996: Six-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.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Akron police report a flood of reports of stalking in the wake of the murders of four women in the area between August and Christmas week.

The Poland Township Zoning Commission recommends that the township contract with Mosure and Syrakis Co. to develop a master plan for development of the township.

1972: Paul Warfield snags a key pass in a final scoring drive as the unbeaten Miami Dolphins defeat Warfield’s former team, the Cleveland Browns, in an American Conference playoff game.

Amy Ann Sheppa is the first Christmas Day baby in Youngstown, born at 12:51 Dec. 25 in St. Elizabeth Hospital.

1962: More than 60 Mahoning County sheriff’s deputies, city police and firemen swoop down on the old West Ave. water works in an unsuccessful hunt for a fugitive county jail inmate, Melvin Johnson, who escaped from South Side Hospital.

For the second consecutive Christmas, Mahoning County roads are fatality free. The national death toll exceeds 800 who died in traffic accidents, fires and miscellaneous mishaps.

1937: Newton D. Baker, who as Secretary of War for President Wilson mobilized the greatest army in the history of the country, dies of a heart attack at 66. He had strong Youngstown ties as chief counsel for Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. in the memorable Bethlehem merger fight.

Cordelia Campbell, 55, daughter-in-law of the late James A. Campbell, head of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., is in critical condition in North Side hospital with a bullet wound of the abdomen. Her daughter, Louise Campbell, 28, is held for investigation in Trumbull County Jail for investigation of the shooting which took place at the Campbell home on Logan Road.