YEARS AGO

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 20, the 355th day of 2016. There are 11 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1803: The Louisiana Purchase is completed as ownership of the territory is formally transferred from France to the United States.

1860: South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union as all 169 delegates to a special convention in Charleston vote in favor of separation.

1924: Adolf Hitler is released from prison after serving nine months for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch; during his time behind bars, he’d written his autobiographical screed, “Mein Kampf.”

1946: The Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life,” starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, has a preview showing for charity at New York’s Globe Theatre, a day before its official world premiere.

1987: More than 4,300 people are killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collides with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island.

1989: The United States launches Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of Gen. Manuel Noriega.

1995: An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, slams into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people aboard.

2015: A strong showing by a pair of upstart parties in Spain’s general election upends the country’s traditional two-party system, with the ruling center-right Popular Party winning the most votes but falling far short of a parliamentary majority.

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: Despite a historic downsizing at General Motors Corp., GM’s Packard Electric Division headquartered in Warren expects stable employment, says Rudolph Schlais, general manager.

Timothy Franken, a lawyer for Video Expo, says he will file an appeal in common pleas court after the Austintown Township board of zoning appeals blocked the opening of the adult book and video store on Canfield-Niles Road.

Workers at Western Reserve Care System vote 741-20 to accept the latest contract offer, ending a three-day strike at Northside, Southside and Tod Children’s hospitals.

1976: Children playing find the body of William A. Workman, 29, who had been shot with a shotgun and covered with leaves on the dead end of Bettman Street on Youngstown’s East Side.

Local 717 of the International Union of Electrical Workers at Packard Electric in Warren overwhelmingly ratifies a three-year contract with the General Motors Corp.

Sister Charlotte Italiano, principal of St. Patrick School in Youngstown, says the school has 35 volunteer parents who are involved on a daily basis. The inner-city school has both a free breakfast and lunch program.

1966: The Mahoning County Welfare Department faces a cutback in its work experience and training program after the first year of operation due to amendments to the Economic Opportunity Act.

The volume of mail handled at the Youngstown Post Office has exceeded that of 1965 by 7 percent, but all of it will be delivered by Christmas.

Robert Aldridge, Tom Johnson and Russell Felger win top honors in a holiday theme art contest sponsored by the East Palestine Art Club.

1941: Youngstown councilmen and city officials meet with the Chamber of Commerce taxation committee and agree that the million-dollar tax levy proposal can be cut to a more reasonable 3.5-mill issue.

Poland Seminary cagers defeat Canfield at Poland 46-23 to take a commanding lead in the Mahoning County Class B race. High scorers were Albin Dearing and Frank Yelich.

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Thompson Sr. of Beloit have two sons and a daughter in the U.S. armed forces. Harvey Jr. is a sergeant in the Quartermaster Corps., Sarah Jane is a lieutenant in the Nursing Corps and Robert is an Air Forces cadet.