YEARS AGO FOR DECEMBER 22

Today is Friday, Dec. 22, the 356th day of 2017. There are nine days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1775: Esek Hopkins is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy.

1944: During the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe rejects a German demand for surrender, writing “Nuts!” in his official reply.

1968: Julie Nixon marries David Eisenhower in a private ceremony in New York.

1991: The body of Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage slain by his terrorist captors, is recovered after it had been dumped along a highway in Lebanon.

2001: Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tries to ignite explosives in his shoes, but is subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers. (Reid is serving a life sentence in federal prison.)

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: Dr. Leslie Cochran, president of Youngstown State University, wins approval from the board of trustees for restructuring the administrative structure. Administrative heads will report directly to Cochran, athletic director Joseph Malmisur or James McCollum, director of university relations.

The 11th District Court of Appeals rules that promoter Frank Kenley is personally responsible for repaying $43,600 to hundreds of people who paid for tickets to Warren Star Theater shows that were canceled in 1987.

Cleveland Browns Coach Bill Belichick says his team will be motivated when it plays the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though the Browns have been knocked out of the playoffs for the third-straight year.

1977: Youngstown City Council asks the federal government to investigate the Northeastern Ohio Manpower and Training Consortium, which administers federal job programs for Youngstown and Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

A 19-year-old New Middletown woman who was visiting Russelville, Ky., has been charged with killing a 13-year-old boy for the $11 his parents had given him.

Randy Gradishar, former Champion High and Ohio State football star, is working to strengthen the ankle he injured against Dallas, and says he’ll be ready when his Denver Broncos meet the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC playoff battle.

1967: Although December mail volume at the Youngstown Post Office is ahead of 1966, it is being handled by just 70 extra workers because of the efficiency of ZIP codes. There were 150 temporary workers in 1966.

A 6-year-old Fowler Township boy, James B. Kline, is struck and killed by a car after he viewed a live Nativity scene at Fowler Methodist Church and then ran into Route 170.

The city buys five more parcels in the downtown Youngstown urban-renewal area, including the Park Theater, for $386,129.

The Warren Salvation Army and Trumbull County Tuberculosis and Health Society expect to reach their goal in the Christmas drives.

1942: The Muskingum College Muskies employ a full-court defense in their defeat of the Youngstown College Penguins, 45-38.

Christmas tree supplies are rapidly nearing depletion. Because of labor and transportation shortages, dealers received from up to 40 percent fewer trees.

A 60 percent drop in contributions to the “Mile of Dimes” drive is reported by Gene Hassfield of the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

A labor stabilization plan to reduce the critical labor shortage crippling Youngstown’s war industries, forbids companies to solicit workers or hire them if already engaged in war work.