YEARS AGO

Today is Sunday, Dec. 25, the 360th day of 2016. There are six days left in the year. This is Christmas Day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

A.D. 336: The first known commemoration of Christmas on Dec. 25 takes place in Rome.

1066: William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.

1776: Gen. George Washington and his troops cross the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.

1818: “Silent Night (Stille Nacht)” is publicly performed for the first time during the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1926: Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

1941: During World War II, Japan announces the surrender of the British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong.

1946: Comedian W.C. Fields dies in Pasadena, Calif., at age 66.

1961: Pope John XXIII formally announces the upcoming convocation of the Second Vatican Council. (The council opened in October 1962.)

1977: Comedian Sir Charles Chaplin dies in Switzerland at age 88.

1989: Former baseball manager Billy Martin, 61, dies in a traffic accident near Binghamton, N.Y.

1990: The World Wide Web is born in Geneva, Switzerland, as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau create the world’s first hyperlinked web page.

1991: Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev goes on television to announce his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a communist superpower that had already gone out of existence.

2006: James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” dies in Atlanta at age 73.

VINDICATOR FILES

1991: Ohio Racing Commission Chairman Norm Barron says that if the General Assembly approves the establishment of off-track betting parlors in the state, they would be entertainment complexes, not bare-bone establishments like those in New York.

The first phase of Trumbull County’s 1990s multimillion-dollar capital improvement program is underway with its first project, the $3.2 million renovation of the Stone Building.

Columbiana County commissioner John Wargo says the county’s hiring of Paul Voinovich, the brother of Gov. George Voinovich, will not get the county any special consideration in seeking state funding.

1976: Downtown Youngs-town department store managers say mild weather and Christmas falling on a Saturday led to one of the best holiday selling seasons ever.

Col. Duane L. Foster takes command of the 910th Tactical Fighter Group.

Six Cardinal Mooney High School students sweep the Americanism and government tests of the American Legion of Mahoning County: Michael J. Reardon, Mary Patricia O’Hara, Thomas Barbush, Jean Weinstein, George Finnerty and Barbara Camuso.

1966: Materially speaking, Youngstown is enjoying a very merry Christmas. The area has had a good business recovery, high levels of profits, large payrolls and the lowest unemployment since World War II.

Ten years ago, it was believed that Hickory Township, Pa., had reached the peak of its growth, but in 1966 the expansion reached a record for a 12-month period. One feature is a new $7 million shopping center.

Kurt Bilas, 7-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Bilas of Youngstown, wins the Ohio Bell Telephone Co. Christmas art contest and has his entry “What Christmas Means to Me” published in the company magazine.

1941: Youngstown district workers, stores, industries and corporate shareholders split up about $4.5 million in dividends and bonuses – all on top of the fattest paychecks they’ve ever seen.

Impressive religious services in Protestant and Catholic churches in Youngstown celebrate the birth of the “Prince of Peace,” even as the Valley’s huge industrial mills and factories hum and roar turning out the sinews of war.